Veteran actor Nana Patekar, who died of cardiac arrest in Goa on Thursday morning at the age of 75, had a significant and memorable connection with Nagpur, particularly through his work for water conservation and farmers. His last major visit to the city in May this year brought him to the forefront of a movement that had increasingly become close to his heart — water conservation and rural welfare. Patekar was in Nagpur on May 18 for the ‘Nagpur Jal Samvad 2026’, organised by the Purti Sinchan Samruddhi Kalyankari Sanstha to mark its 25th anniversary at the Kavivarya Suresh Bhat Auditorium in Reshimbagh.

 

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, Naam Foundation secretary and actor Makarand Anaspure, Water Conservation Minister Sanjay Rathod and several other dignitaries were present. The event acquired special significance after Patekar's death, as the actor had spoken openly there about his philosophy of life, his work for farmers and his apprehensions about death. Patekar, president of Naam Foundation, said that the satisfaction he derived from working for farmers and society through the organisation was greater than that from the money and recognition earned through films and theatre. He also proposed that Naam Foundation and Gadkari’s Purti Sinchan Samruddhi Kalyankari Sanstha should work together for water conservation. “Conserving water is the duty of every citizen,” Patekar had said at the Nagpur programme, urging people to take responsibility for saving every possible drop.

 

He also appreciated Gadkari’s initiatives in the field of water conservation and expressed a desire to open a Naam Foundation office in Nagpur. His candid admission about death What now stands out from Patekar’s Nagpur speech was his unusually candid reference to death while explaining why he had not performed the lead role in the iconic Marathi play ‘Natsamrat’. Patekar had remarked he was apprehensive because actors who had earlier played the central role in the play had subsequently died of heart attacks.

 

He reasoned that an actor has to give everything to a performance and joked that if he had taken up the stage role and given his all, he might have survived only about 25 performances before suffering a heart attack. He therefore chose to portray Ganpatrao Belwalkar in the 2016 film adaptation rather than on stage. At the Nagpur event, Patekar recalled how a television interview with the widow of a farmer changed his outlook. He had been planning to buy an expensive car but abandoned the plan after watching the interview and instead decided to help distressed farming families. This eventually contributed to the formation and expansion of Naam Foundation.