Shah Rukh Khan remembers 'rough, honest' Nana Patekar: 'He had a strange way of showing affection'

The first lesson Nana Patekar gave Shah Rukh Khan came with a slap on the hand. On the set of their 1992 film Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman, a young, nervous Shah Rukh kept touching his hair. More than three decades later, Shah Rukh says he will carry what Nana told him that day "till the end of time."

Nana Patekar died of a cardiac arrest in Goa on Thursday, October 8. He was 75. That evening, Shah Rukh Khan posted a long tribute on Instagram to the man he called a mentor, a critic and a friend.

'Hero ki tarah baal mat bana'

With the post, Shah Rukh shared a still of the two of them from Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman. He described their first meeting: "When I first met him, out of awe and awkwardness I fiddled with my hair. He slapped my hand away and said 'hero ki tarah Baal mat bana...tu actor hai'! (Stop fixing your hair like a hero, you're an actor)."

He ended the note with that same advice: "All I can say is, I will miss you dearly and carry your words in my heart till the end of time....'hero banne ke chakar mein actor mat khona'. (Don't lose the actor to become a hero)."

Affection that came with insults

Shah Rukh said Nana never sugarcoated anything. "He didn't flatter you. He didn't tell you what you wanted to hear. He told you what you needed to hear. That was Nana. Straightforward. Rough, honest and had the most beautiful smile."

He added that Nana's warmth often came disguised as anger: "He always had a strange way of showing affection. He would shout at you first, and then somewhere between the third or fourth insult, you realised you were being hugged. He loved me and I loved him back."

Carrom, tea and unfinished conversations

Shah Rukh also wrote about Nana's competitive side away from the camera. He described him as someone "who beat me and everyone else around him in carrom game after game and relished his victories."

"Nana your intensity, laughter, madness and love will always stay with us," he wrote. "I just wish we had time to have more conversations, another argument, another cup of tea and a game of carrom."

He said Nana's death "left a void not only in the world of cinema but in the hearts of all Indians and the world." He signed off: "May your soul rest in peace Nana and Allah bless you. The Heavens will be blessed to have you... a masterful actor and an unbeatable carrom champion. Love you and miss you dearly!! Too soon my Hero Actor! RIP."

Two films, 10 years apart

The two actors first worked together in Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman (1992). They reunited a decade later for Shakti: The Power (2002), which was their last film together.

Funeral in Pune

Nana Patekar's funeral will take place at his farm in Pune on Thursday. His body was expected to arrive there by 5 pm so fans could pay their respects.