Nana Patekar dies at 75 in Goa, Maharashtra to hold state funeral

Veteran actor Nana Patekar died early on Thursday at his home in Dona Paula, Goa, after a cardiac arrest. He was 75.

Dr Shekhar Salkar of Manipal Hospital said the actor was already dead when he reached the hospital at around 4.30 am. Doctors kept up cardiac massage for 45 minutes to an hour. He was declared dead by 5.30 am.

The doctor also described the hours before. At about 2.30 am, Nana messaged a friend that he was not feeling well, but the message went unseen in the night. When the friend reached his house near 4 am, the actor was sweating and slowly losing consciousness. His caretaker went to the hospital and came back in its ambulance with the emergency team, who began cardiac massage. "His family was not there," Dr Salkar said.

A police case has been registered, and the body was taken to the morgue at Goa Medical College for a postmortem. Dr Salkar said the cause of the cardiac arrest is not yet known. He added that, as far as he had been told, the actor was a known heart patient on medication.

Maharashtra will give him a funeral with full state honours. Cultural Affairs Minister Ashish Shelar announced the decision on X, citing the actor's contribution to Marathi theatre and to Marathi and Hindi cinema. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis spoke to Nana's son, Malhar Patekar, told him the preparations were under way and promised the family all possible support.

Fadnavis called him "a very strong artist of Indian cinema" and recalled his films from Krantiveer to Natsamrat. He also spoke about Nana's water conservation work in drought-hit villages through the Naam Foundation. "For me he was like a brother, like a guide, like a friend," the Chief Minister said.