Nana Patekar was given a state funeral with a gun salute, but the film industry’s turnout was thin, and it has become a talking point.
The veteran actor died in Goa on Thursday 8 October, aged 75. He was found unconscious at his home early that morning and could not be revived. Doctors said he died of cardiac arrest. He was cremated with full state honours on the outskirts of Pune. Police gave him a 21-gun salute, and his son, Malhar, performed the last rites.
More than 1,000 people had gathered at his farmhouse in Donje village, and many had waited hours in the heat. The funeral drew political leaders, members of the public and people from the film industry. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis paid his respects when the body arrived at Pune airport.
The film names were few. Reports list Jackie Shroff, filmmakers Anees Bazmee, Mehul Kumar and Sajid Nadiadwala, actors Makarand Anaspure and Prasad Oak, and singers Rahul Deshpande and Suresh Wadkar. Missing were the industry’s biggest stars. One entertainment site said the absence of a wider gathering of A-list stars and prominent directors was disappointing, and noted that many celebrities were seen at events in Mumbai the same day. The site named Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Aamir Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Ajay Devgn and Akshay Kumar, and argued that Patekar’s legacy did not need their validation but that he “deserved better”.
A filmmaker speaks out
The loudest criticism came from within the Marathi film world. Filmmaker Pravin Tarde expressed disappointment over the limited Bollywood presence and said those who considered Patekar a friend should have attended. He pointed to the thousands of farmers who joined the funeral procession and said their presence reflected the actor’s bond with ordinary people. He also tried to put the absence in perspective. “Bollywood is not bigger than Nana,” he said, adding that the no-shows did not diminish Patekar’s greatness. The farmers’ link ran through the Naam Foundation, which Patekar co-founded, and he was known for his work with rural communities in Maharashtra.
Distance, timing and tributes
Two factors may explain part of the thin turnout. The first is geography. Patekar died in Goa, and the funeral took place near Pune, not in Mumbai, where the industry is based. The same entertainment site asked whether the turnout would have differed had the funeral been held in Mumbai.
The second is timing. The cremation began at around 11:30pm because bringing the body from Goa took longer than expected. The family felt considerable time had already passed and decided to finish the rites that night. The decision raised questions about why they did not wait until Friday so more film people could attend.
Bollywood did not ignore his death altogether. Akshay Kumar, Alia Bhatt, Manisha Koirala, Ram Gopal Varma, Prakash Raj and Jr NTR were among those who paid tribute. The question being asked is why so few of those who mourned online made the trip to Donje.
The row echoes a familiar complaint. After Sushant Singh Rajput’s death in 2020, high-profile Bollywood stars were absent from the funeral, which fed a heated debate about how clannish the industry remains. Patekar, a three-time National Film Award winner and Padma Shri recipient, was not an outsider in the same sense. But he kept his distance from the film world’s social circuit, and the turnout suggests that distance went both ways.