Nana Patekar has never been an actor who needed to dominate a scene to make it memorable. His voice, pauses, eyes and physical presence could change the temperature of a film. Across Hindi and Marathi cinema, he moved comfortably between intense drama, crime, social cinema and comedy. Looking back at his work through ten films shows why his performances continue to invite viewers back.
1. Parinda (1989)
Parinda is one of the essential films for understanding Nana Patekar's place in Hindi cinema. His portrayal of Anna is frightening without becoming merely theatrical. The character's violence, loneliness and unpredictability give the film much of its tension.
Why watch it: Patekar demonstrates how restraint can make a dangerous character even more disturbing.
Where to watch: Parinda (1989)
2. Krantiveer (1994)
In Krantiveer, Patekar plays Pratap Narayan Tilak, a troubled man who gradually finds a larger purpose. The performance earned him the National Film Award for Best Actor and remains one of his defining roles.
Why watch it: The film shows Patekar moving from anger and frustration towards conviction without losing the character's rough edges.
Where to watch: Krantiveer (1994)
3. Khamoshi: The Musical (1996)
Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Khamoshi gave Patekar a very different challenge. As Joseph, a deaf father whose daughter dreams of becoming a singer, he communicates much through expression and physical performance.
Why watch it: It is a reminder that Patekar's intensity did not depend on loud dialogue. Silence itself becomes part of his acting.
Where to watch: Khamoshi: The Musical (1996)
4. Ab Tak Chhappan (2004)
As police officer Sadhu Agashe, Patekar gives one of his most controlled performances. The film follows a policeman shaped by violence and the pressures of the Mumbai underworld.
Why watch it: Patekar avoids turning Agashe into a conventional action hero. His tiredness and moral complications are as important as his authority.
Where to watch: Ab Tak Chhappan (2004)
5. Apaharan (2005)
In Prakash Jha's Apaharan, Patekar plays Tabrez Alam, a political operator in Bihar. The character is intelligent, calculating and dangerous, and Patekar gives him an unsettling calm.
Why watch it: The performance shows his ability to create menace without depending on constant physical aggression.
Where to watch: Apaharan (2005)
6. Welcome (2007)
For viewers who know Patekar mainly through serious roles, Welcome offers another side of him. As Uday Shetty, he turns an underworld character into one of the film's great comic creations.
Why watch it: His timing, voice and chemistry with Anil Kapoor show that the same intensity that worked in crime dramas could become comedy in the right setting.
Where to watch: Welcome (2007)
7. The Attacks of 26/11 (2013)
Patekar plays a senior police officer recounting the events surrounding the 2008 Mumbai attacks. The film is built around a painful national tragedy rather than conventional entertainment.
Why watch it: His performance carries the weight of testimony. It is restrained, serious and appropriate to the subject.
Where to watch: The Attacks of 26/11 (2013)
8. Dr. Prakash Baba Amte: The Real Hero (2014)
Patekar's performance as Dr. Prakash Amte introduced many viewers to the life and work of the physician and social worker who worked among tribal communities in Maharashtra.
Why watch it: Rather than making the character a conventional heroic figure, Patekar gives him a quiet determination that suits the film's human focus.
Where to watch: Dr. Prakash Baba Amte: The Real Hero (2014)
9. Natsamrat (2016)
Natsamrat is particularly important because it connects Patekar's work in cinema with his theatrical strengths. He plays Ganpat Belwalkar, a celebrated stage actor whose life changes after retirement.
Why watch it: The role allows Patekar to explore ageing, memory, pride, family and the emotional vulnerability of an artist who has spent his life on stage.
Where to watch: Natsamrat (2016)
10. The Vaccine War (2023)
In The Vaccine War, Patekar plays Dr. Balram Bhargava in a film centred on India's development of a COVID-19 vaccine. It belongs to the later phase of his career, when he increasingly took roles based on real people and contemporary events.
Why watch it: It provides a useful contrast with his earlier gangster, policeman and dramatic roles and shows his continuing interest in characters connected to public life.
Where to watch: The Vaccine War (2023)
Why these ten?
Taken together, these films show the range of Nana Patekar's acting career: gangster, policeman, political operator, father, social worker, theatre actor, comic character and public figure. His performances rarely feel interchangeable. Even when the surrounding films belong to very different genres, he brings an unmistakable sense of character.
That is perhaps the best reason to revisit his work. A Nana Patekar retrospective does not need to depend only on nostalgia. These films remain interesting because the performances continue to reveal different aspects of an actor who could be fierce, vulnerable, funny, restrained and deeply emotional.
For viewers discovering him today, the best place to begin may not necessarily be his most famous film. It may be the performance that reveals a side of him they have not seen before.
V Rajesh Mohan Rao writes from Dharmadam, Thalassery, Kerala. He is a higher secondary school teacher of commerce subjects, a member of the Konkani language working committee of Kerala state, and President of the Dharmadam Chandrakala Mohan Rao Cultural Forum.
