Veteran Actor Nana Patekar Dies at 75 Following Cardiac Arrest in Goa

Veteran actor Nana Patekar has died at the age of 75 after suffering a severe cardiac arrest at his home in Goa. He was declared dead at 5:20 AM on Thursday, October 8. Doctors tried to revive him using continuous CPR for about 45 minutes, but he could not be saved. Dr. Shekhar Salkar, Chief of the Oncology Department at Manipal Hospital, confirmed the news and stated that a medico-legal case has been registered, with a post-mortem examination planned to find out more details.

Career and Film Journey

Patekar started his acting career with the 1978 film Gaman and went on to build a strong reputation in both Hindi and Marathi cinema. His work in Salaam Bombay! and Parinda brought him wide praise. Salaam Bombay!, directed by Mira Nair, received an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. In Parinda, he played a gangster, winning both the National Film Award and Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor. Filming was often risky for him, as he suffered severe burns during a real-fire sequence in Parinda and was stabbed during the shooting of Salaam Bombay!.

Directing and Recent Work

He later stepped behind the camera to direct and star in the 1991 movie Prahaar: The Final Attack, for which he trained with the Territorial Army. He stayed active on screen until recently, making a special appearance as Lance Naik Nana Waghmare in the Anil Kapoor action drama Subedaar, which premiered on Amazon Prime Video on March 5, 2026. Before that, he played Mumbai Intelligence Bureau chief Ismail Khan in Vishal Bhardwaj's theatrical release O'Romeo on February 13, 2026, starring Shahid Kapoor and Triptii Dimri. His project The Confession Of Mary is also set for a premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Context

Sudden cardiac arrest is a critical medical emergency where the heart unexpectedly stops beating, requiring immediate intervention like CPR. Post-mortem examinations and medico-legal cases are standard procedures when a person passes away outside of a hospital setting, helping authorities officially record the exact cause of death.