Throwback Thursday: Before Uday Shetty, There Was Anna — Nana Patekar’s 7 Most Iconic Screen Characters

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The news of Nana Patekar's passing at 75 has left audiences looking back at the many characters through which the veteran actor became such a memorable part of Indian cinema. His death on Thursday marks the end of a career that stretched across Hindi and Marathi films, with performances that could be fierce, vulnerable, unsettling and unexpectedly funny.

If you remember Nana Patekar mainly as Uday Shetty from 'Welcome', it is easy to forget just how different some of his earlier characters were. Long before the loud, short-tempered gangster became a comedy favourite, Patekar had already built a reputation for playing men who could be intimidating, vulnerable, angry or deeply troubled.

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That range is what made his performances stand out. He could dominate a scene without saying much, switch from warmth to menace in seconds and make even morally complicated characters feel real. From 'Parinda' and 'Krantiveer' to 'Agni Sakshi', 'Ab Tak Chhappan' and 'Natsamrat', his characters rarely felt interchangeable.

1. Anna In 'Parinda' Remains One Of His Most Chilling Roles

Before Uday Shetty, there was Anna Seth.

In 'Parinda' (1989), Nana Patekar played a ruthless underworld don whose calm demeanour could be more frightening than an outburst. The character's unpredictability gave the film much of its tension, while Patekar's performance established him as an actor capable of making a villain impossible to ignore.

The role earned him his first National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor.

2. 'Krantiveer' Brought Out His Angry Side

As Pratap Narayan Tilak in 'Krantiveer' (1994), Nana Patekar played a disillusioned man who finds himself confronting corruption and injustice.

The character's anger was central to the film, but Patekar gave it an emotional edge rather than simply turning Pratap into a conventional action hero. His performance earned him the National Film Award for Best Actor.

3. 'Agni Sakshi' Showed How Quiet Menace Could Be

Then came Vishwanath in 'Agni Sakshi' (1996), one of Nana Patekar's most unsettling performances.

His character initially presents himself as a loving husband, but his possessive and violent nature gradually emerges. What makes the performance disturbing is that Patekar did not need constant shouting or dramatic gestures. His controlled behaviour made Vishwanath's unpredictability even more unsettling. The role earned him another National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor.

4. Joseph In 'Khamoshi: The Musical' Showed His Softer Side

In 'Khamoshi: The Musical' (1996), Nana Patekar stepped away from the intensity associated with many of his famous roles to play Joseph, a deaf and devoted father. His character's relationship with his daughter forms the emotional centre of the film, and Patekar brings a quiet tenderness to the role.

What makes the performance particularly memorable is how much he conveys without relying on dialogue. His expressions and body language carry the affection, concern and helplessness of a father trying to protect his daughter. It was another reminder that Patekar's strength as an actor was not limited to playing men who commanded attention through anger or aggression.

5. Sadhu Agashe Was A Different Kind Of Intensity

In 'Ab Tak Chhappan' (2004), Nana Patekar played Inspector Sadhu Agashe, a Mumbai police officer known for his encounter killings. Unlike some of his earlier roles, the performance relied heavily on restraint. Agashe was tough, weary and complicated, giving Patekar another character far removed from his earlier villains.

6. And Then Came Uday Shetty

By the time 'Welcome' arrived in 2007, audiences were already familiar with Nana Patekar's intensity. But Uday Shetty gave him an entirely different playground.

As the gangster desperate to become respectable, Nana Patekar played Uday with complete seriousness. His comic timing worked precisely because he treated the absurd situations around him as if they were matters of life and death. The result was a character audiences could quote, imitate and remember years later.

7. 'Natsamrat' Revealed Yet Another Side

In the Marathi film 'Natsamrat' (2016), Patekar played Ganpatrao Belwalkar, a retired theatre actor dealing with ageing, family and loss. Here, the loud intensity associated with some of his famous roles gave way to vulnerability and emotional depth.

And so this Throwback Thursday it is perhaps the best way to look back at Nana Patekar's screen legacy. Anna, Pratap, Vishwanath, Joseph, Sadhu Agashe, Uday Shetty and Ganpatrao were vastly different men, but Patekar made each one unmistakably his own. Uday may have introduced him to a whole new generation, but Anna was only the beginning of a career filled with characters audiences never quite forgot.