He lights up the screen like no other man, fiery, passionate, intense. His voice is a poetic delight, deep, rich, expressive as he delivers each dialogue with a fluidity, a natural grace, a master of punch lines. He has been labeled everything, from moody to manipulative to interfering, and yet when you meet Nana Patekar, all you see is simplicity and humility, spontaneity, a sharp mind, and a man who doesn’t have a single fake bone in his body. He is kind enough to do the interview at an unearthly hour of close to 1 a.m., and is more concerned that you should be eating your dinner while he is still sitting there hungry, after a late flight, a long performance in a close to 3 hour play and an interview that runs for more than 90 minutes, and he still doesn’t want to end it, ”nahin, poochiye jo bhi aap ko poochna hai.” (“Ask anything you want to ask.”)
Lets start with the play ‘Purush” itself then. You have been playing Gulab Rao since 1980, when the play staged its first show in Marathi. Have there been any changes in the script, or in the way the characters are portrayed?
No. Isn’t it amazing that a play conceived and written in 1980, is as relevant, and as fresh today as it was in 1980. There is nothing that seems stale or out dated in it. The reason for that is of course the brilliant script written by the late play Wright Jaywant Dalvi. We did change things a bit in the Hindi version, in characterization. Whatever Dalvi wrote in Marathi was very sophisticated. It catered to an upper crust audience. The director Vijaya Mehta and I made it more rural. For example, we have portrayed Gulab Rao as a sleazy country bumpkin, typically run of the mill, the everyman in Indian politics, and I gave him the broken English accent, and those little touches have been very effective. He was very sophisticated in the Marathi version. The Marathi version was also limited by the language. It was not possible for people outside Maharashtra or those who did not speak Marathi to appreciate it or to relate to the political references, and it would have been even more restricting to bring it to USA. I wanted to reach a bigger audience and so we decided to reenact the play in Hindi. The problems portrayed in the play are universal everywhere, be it rape, or politicians and people in authority taking advantage of their power.
Personally, the weakest and most mediocre character in the play is that of Gulab Rao. I had to work very hard, to give little touches, to make the character as effective as it seems. Maybe now people come to see the play because I am Nana Patekar, the movie actor, but in 1980, I was a nobody. Every other role in the play is author backed, powerfully scripted with amazing dialogues. Not mine, so I worked very hard to stand out. What I liked about the people here was that most of them were very appreciative, and clapped at the right places. I had walked out at a performance because people started cheering because of who I was, even in the most traumatic parts of the play. I realized then that Nana Patekar the film star was superimposing Gulab Rao the character, and vowed I will never let that happen again.
Have you always been interested in theater?
I am sharing a part of myself today, that I don’t often share with people. I am the youngest child in my family. All my siblings were very fair and good looking. As long as I can remember, I felt I was unwanted, very ugly to look at, the black sheep of the family, and that even my parents were ashamed of having me. I didn’t speak English fluently, and was hesitant to express myself. Today I can sit here and talk about it to you, but in those days I just could not communicate these feelings of rejection, of feeling unloved. Theater became my focus, my passion, a medium through which I could express myself, through which I could attract people’s attention and starting from elementary school I went all the way to state competition, then experimental theater and finally commercial theater, and then to films from there.
I was talking to director Feroz Khan and he said till today, it is very tough to make theater a financially viable proposition. He always feels strapped for funds. So is it an advantage for you with your clout as a movie star when it comes to collecting funds?
What is he talking about?. Why does one have to always look at everything from a material point of view? Do you know if I stood on the streets and performed a play and asked people to pay me, they will, and not because I am Nana Patekar the actor. 20 years ago I was a nobody, I have struggled for years, but I never had to beg for my bread and butter. People still paid me my price. When you do something from your heart, your soul, from deep within yourself with true sincerity and complete conviction, people will respond. When you look at everything from a business point of view your vision is limited to money. Forget about finance, yaar. How many Mercedes can you drive in, penthouses can you live in, when those little poverty stricken, hungry children are knocking on your window, soaked to the skin in pelting rain, as you read a glossy magazine, cocooned in your plush surroundings. Money has never been my life’s goal and I have no respect for people who can’t see beyond material compensation.
So how do you survive in an industry which is totally materialistic, obsessed with fame and glamour?
I don’t interact with people from the film industry, beyond my work. If I have any friends in the industry then to a certain extent, its Jackie Shroff, who is as unfilmi as I am, and Boney Kapoor. No matter what all crap they have written about him since his post Sridevi days, he is one of the nicest people in the industry. All my friends are still in my village. That is where I escape, after a film is done. I am a free spirit, a man of the mountains. I love walking through them, to be one with nature. Loud noises, city life jars my being. I hate violence of any kind.
And yet you act in mostly violent films.
(The dark, intense eyes look at me ruefully, as he tries to cover his cigarette with his hand to avoid sending second hand smoke my way.) That has been the tragedy of my life. People seem to only like me in negative roles. You said to me a little while ago, that your favorite movies were Thoda sa Rumani Ho jayen, Khamoshi and Raju ban gaya gentleman. Do you know ideally those are the kind of films I would love to do most of the time.’
“Khamoshi” was a milestone in your career wasn’t it? You have always been known for your amazing dialogue delivery, the richness of your voice, and in “Khamoshi”, you played a deaf and mute man.
That is why I accepted that role. I don’t have to prove to the people how good an actor I am. “Khamoshi” was a personal journey in self-discovery for me to see where I stood as an actor. For 14 months I was learning sign language from a deaf and mute girl, and then came a time that she and I would be engrossed in our one world, having tearful , intense discussions about life, while people gaped at us.
Which has been your personal favorite?
Prahar, by far. I directed that movie and the character is all me. I took special permission from the central government and took military training for months. I learnt some amazing thing. I was in the army for three years before that, but this was an incredible experience. It taught me discipline in a way I could not have learnt anywhere. It taught me the truth, that my identity is because of my country, and my country is what I am. If we have a few unsavory characters at the top, it doesn’t mean our entire country is bad. You may have all the material comforts here is USA , but there is no place like India, where even the poorest man, will be willing to share half of his roti with you.”
You have been called an interfering actor by some directors.
I write all my roles. Anyone who offers me a movie, knows very well that I will be doing that, and that I will be involved in all aspects of the movie from day one. Considering that all my films have done well, including the awfully made “Tiranga”, where I hid in my village just before the release. I was so sure my friends would beat me up for accepting that movie, I guess I must be doing something right.
You have developed a very unique style of acting? I believe Amitabh Bachchan was intimidated in Kohram when he acted with you?
I think I am just selective about my roles. I have been struggling for 32 years to find roles that I really love. You have to worship what you do. Acting is my hobby, but I am always so involved. Every minute of the day, I am picking on people, noticing little nuances, till my friends get exasperated and say, stop it Nana …but that is what makes me so real on screen and on stage. That is why you forget larger than life melodramas like Mughal-e-Azam, but never forget a film like “Mother India.” As for Amitabh Bachchan, he is a nice, most cooperative man. No comments beyond that!!
So give me an example of an instance where you have taken a real life episode and made it part of your character, and is there any role you’d give an arm and a leg to do?
During the 1984 riots, Baba Amte, the well known social worker, from Bombay visited the affected families in Punjab. There was one such family where the father and his 4 adult sons had been gunned down;.all that was left were the daughters-in-law, the children and the matriarch of the family. She was told, a gentleman is here all the way from Bombay to offer his condolences. She was sitting outside, sifting wheat. She looked up and said. “he is here to offer condolences, and yet not a tear in his eye? “ She lowered her lid and asked him “Is there anything in your eyes? Kuch hai kya? Not even a tear? So why are you here.” It was such a weird gesture, this pulling of the lower lid and asking that question, and yet such poignancy and pain too, that it deeply affected me and I incorporated that in my movie “ Parinda’. You know, each one of us, perceives life differently, depending on the circumstances we grew up in. While I try to remain true to the script and the role, the only time my performance becomes unique is when I add touches from real life, and that is what leaves a lasting impact.
As for the one role, I would have loved to play Bhagat Singh. He is my hero. There is only one picture hanging on my wall at home and it is of Bhagat Singh. Of course now it’s too late to play him as he died young and am 51 years old, but I will some day, do some adaptation related to Bhagat Singh’s life, before I retire.
How is it that no one has ever tapped on your ability to be this amazing comic actor , as was seen in Thoda sa Rumani ho jayen and even a different role like Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman, or even Tarkeib, which was a thriller, but you looked like you were having a lot of fun.. Instead you end up very intense but usually violent movies like Pratighaat, or Agnisakshi where you played this overly possessive, violent husband?
I do have to defend myself for the role in “Agnisakhsi”. In real life there are such men and women who are possessive to the point of madness, and resort to violence. In real life too, I am very possessive, even more so that what you saw in “Agnisakshi”, but I will never resort to violence. I tend to just go into my shell and hope my woman will understand my hurt. Over the years I have learnt one lesson, give of yourself totally in relationships, but don’t expect much in return. If someone gives you the gift of love with the same abandon, be pleasantly surprised, but the truth is, it is really not humanly possible to receive what you perceive you should be receiving in any relationship. As for comedy, I totally agree with you, but then it is not late to rectify that. I am directing two films, and also writing a play, which will be laced with black humor, and hard hitting facts of life. It will be a 60 to 90 minute mono-act and its called ‘ Main Kaayar hoon” (I am a coward), and depicts the life of a common man and his cowardice in life from 1942 to 2000. I know it won’t go down well with some people but I am still going to go ahead and do it.
So what are the future plans?
(He laughs) Arrey I tell you also, don’t plan the future, life throws too many curve balls your way. I have 4 movies coming out, there is “ Shakti” a very violent one with Karisma Kapoor for which ironically I will probably win the national award. I am directing two movies , one is unnamed, the other is called “Yagya”, and a musical is in the works. I may also be doing a Malayalam film based on the life of the famous Malayalee poet C.K Pillai and his friend E. Raghavan Pillai, who committed suicide after a failed love affair at 23. “Ramanan’ is C.K. Pillai’s eulogy to his friend. Pillai was the Keats of Kerala. And it is uncanny that he looks exactly like me. Of course he too died tragically in his 30s. I plan to retire in 3 years and go back to my village, where I will forget that I was ever an actor, and find some other outlets to explore. I have been so fortunate. I love people and they, as well as God has given me far beyond what I had ever wanted in life. Do you know, if I was to quit everything and ask my friends to feed me one meal a day, some of them will have to be born again before their turn comes. For me that is what life is all about – love and simplicity and to be one with nature and true to myself.