Nana Patekar cremated at native Pune village with state honours; thousands bid farewell with teary eyed

PTC News Desk: Thousands of people gathered in Pune on Thursday night to pay their last respects to veteran actor Nana Patekar, whose last rites were performed at his farmhouse in Donje village.

The 75-year-old actor, known for his performances in films such as Krantiveer and Khamoshi: The Musical, was cremated with full state honours amid chants of “Nana Amar Rahe” (Long Live Nana). His son, Malhar Patekar, lit the funeral pyre.

According to his aides, Patekar had expressed a wish to be cremated at his farmhouse. Earlier in the day, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis paid his respects at Pune International Airport when the actor’s mortal remains arrived from Goa.

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar, Union Ministers Ramdas Athawale and Murlidhar Mohol, state ministers Chandrakant Patil, Uday Samant and Madhuri Misal, Lok Sabha MP Sunil Tatkare, actor Makarand Anaspure, actor Jackie Shroff, filmmaker Sajid Nadiadwala, filmmaker Anil Sharma and several other personalities from the film industry, politics, sports and social sector attended the last rites.

Patekar died at his residence in Goa in the early hours of Thursday. Doctors suspected that he had suffered a heart attack.

Following his death, Panaji Police registered an Unnatural Death (UD) case under Section 194 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS).

According to police records, the actor was brought from his residence at Ocean Park in Dona Paula to the casualty ward of Manipal Hospital in Bambolim, where he was declared brought dead. Police Sub-Inspector Nitin Naik is leading the further investigation into the circumstances surrounding his death.