Dimple Kapadia and Nana Patekar worked in four films - Prahaar (1991), Krantiveer (1994), Welcome 2 (2009) and Tum Milo Toh Sahi (2010). Dimple witnessed Nana's growth from the 90s to the recent bunch of films. Having seen him from close quarters, Dimple recalled his 'intimidating' nature and how to deal with that. In an interview with Filmfare, Dimple Kapadia looked back at her journey with Nana Patekar starting from Prahaar to Tum Milo Toh Sahi after his sudden death.
Prahaar
Directed by Nana Patekar, Prahaar was often regarded ahead of its time and one of his finest performances. Dimple Kapadia featured alongside Madhuri Dixit in the film.
Having worked under Nana's direction, Dimple said, "He was all heart, all love. Ofcourse he tried to intimidate you but you had to take it in your stride. In fact I was shocked when he offered me Prahaar which he directed. I was thinking what he saw in me? There were so many better actors than me."
"I recall there was a scene in Prahaar when my daughter gets molested and he tried to whip me up into a lather, asking me to imagine a personally violent experience. I just let loose. He was very happy when he got his shot," Dimple added.
Welcome 2
The one word that could describe Nana Patekar was 'unpredictable'. Dimple couldn't stop laughing recalling his 'erratic' nature on Welcome 2 set, a typical Nana Patekar feature.
"During Welcome 2 there was a shot in the desert where my parting line was Maa ki aankh. He was sitting on the monitor in a tent and listening to it. It was so funny. Something was going on his head. He yelled the place down, removed his tie in disgust and said, "Pack up, yeh koi dialogue hai? You can't make a woman say all that." Obviously he was ticked off with the director or something and was firing from my shoulder. Just thinking of that day makes me roll with laughter," Dimple told Filmfare.
Tum Milo Toh Sahi
In this anthology, Dimple played a Parsi cafe owner and Nana played a man seeking a job extension. In one of the court scenes, Nana asked Dimple not to use glycerine.
"He would always work towards the betterment of the film. He was collaborative unlike most actors who are only thinking of their performance he wanted all his co actors to do well. I remember on Kabir Sadanand's film Tum Milo Toh Sahi, one court scene was being filmed- he said "Dimple glycerine nahi lene ka, dialogue yaad kar," Dimple recalled.
Dimple didn't leave an opportunity to play a prank on the 'serious' Nana.
"We would play practical jokes on each other always. Once on Kabir's film only he said sab time pe aana no delays. As luck would have it he came late that day. With a straight face I took off, "Male actors can come late they can do anything. You guys let the male actors get away with nonsense. If we ladies did it so much hangama you would have made." You should have seen his face that day. All day, I pretended that I was angry. I had such a good laugh later," said Dimple.
"But jokes apart it was such a pleasure shooting with him for Prahaar and Krantiveer and the couple of films that we did together. Aise actors kam hi milte hai life mein from who you get to learn so much," Dimple summed up her journey.
Nana Patekar died at the age of 75 after suffering a cardiac arrest at his Goa home. He was declared dead at 5:20 am.
Nana Patekar was cremated with full state honours amid chants of "Nana Amar Rahe" (Long Live Nana) at Donje farmhouse, Pune, on Thursday. Nana Patekar had said that he would like to be cremated at his farmhouse, according to his associates.
Film celebrities including Jackie Shroff, Sajid Nadiadwala and Anil Sharma were present at his funeral, along with several political dignitaries. Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde also arrived at the actor's native village to pay his last respects.
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