Veteran actor Nana Patekar recently opened up about the tragic loss of his elder son. In an interview with Lallantop, the actor disclosed that his eldest son faced health challenges from birth.
Nana Patekar on his son's death
“My eldest son was sick since birth. He had some health complications. He had trouble in one eye, it wasn't visible. I felt so disgusted that when I saw him, I thought about what people would think, what kind of son Nana has. I didn't think about what he felt or how he felt. I only thought about what people would think about my son. His name was Durvasa. He spent two and a half years with us. But what can you do, some things happen in life,” he told Lallantop.
The actor admitted that he was more concerned about societal perceptions than his son's feelings, a regret that clearly haunts him.
On smoking 60 cigarettes a day
The actor recounted the shock and grief of his son’s death, sharing that he was heavily addicted to smoking at the time. “At that time, I used to smoke about 60 cigarettes a day. I even smoked while bathing. But it’s a very bad thing. No one would sit in my car because of the foul smell. I never drank alcohol much but I smoked a lot,” he revealed.
Patekar's turning point came through the concern of his sister. “It was because of my sister that I quit smoking. She lost her only son. Then my sister saw me coughing after smoking. She said, ‘What else do you want to see?’” This question deeply affected Patekar, prompting him to quit smoking immediately.
Nana Patekar was recently seen in Vivek Agnihotri’s ‘The Vaccine War’. In the film, Nana Patekar portrayed Balram Bhargava, the former Director General of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). Bhargava played a crucial role in managing the pandemic and was a key member of India's Covid working group.