Image instagrammed by Nana Patekar. (Courtesy: NanaPatekar)
Nana Patekar clarified his position after a video went viral in which he was seen slapping a man, who attempted to click a selfie with him. Nana Patekar shared a video on Instagram and narrated the entire incident in minute detail. Nana Patekar can be heard saying in the video, "Dekhiye, ek video viral ho raha hai jaha maine ek bacche ko mara hai. Hala ke ye sequence hamare ek film ka hissa hai. Humne ek rehearsal kar di thi. Ek piche se banda aake bolta hai, 'Ye bura topi bechni ha?' Maine hat pehna hua hai. Mein use marta hu. Mein kehta hu, 'Badtameezi bandh karo, tameez se pesh aao. Ye tarika nehi hai.' Aur woh bhag jata hai. Ek rehearsal kar chuke the. Director ne kaha aur ek bar karni hai. Hum suru hi kar ne wale the ke itne me ye baccha jo video me hai andar aa gaya (A video went viral in which I slapped a young man. However, it's a sequence of a film I am shooting. We have done the rehearsal once. In the sequence, a young man coming from the back, will say, 'Hey, old man, will you sell your hat?' You can see in the video I am wearing a hat. After his dialogues, I will slap him and say 'Behave yourself. It's not the right way of talking.' Then he runs away. The director wanted us to rehearse it for one more time. I was about to begin and, in the meantime, this man (seen in the video) came in front of me)."
Nana Patekar continues, "Hume toh pata nehi ye bacha kaun hai. Hume toh laga ke hamari hi banda hai. Maine ek thappar mar di use. Bad me pata chala ye hamara banda toh hai nehi. Koi aur hai. Hum use bula ne ja rahe the, tab tak woh bhag gaya. Bhag jane ke bad shayad uski kisi dost ne shoot kiya hai. Hala ke humne kabhi kisi ko photo ke liye na nehi bola hai. Ab ye galti se ho gaya. Humko malum nehi woh kaha se aaya. agar galatfami hai toh maaf kar do bhai. Hum aise kabhi kisi ko marte nehi. Aj tak humne aisa kiya nehi (I don't know who the man was. I thought he was from our team. Later we found that this man was different. We tried to find him out but he ran away. Probably, one of his friends shot the entire thing. I haven't turned down any fan for photos so far. This incident happened by mistake. I don't know where this man came from. If there's any misunderstanding, please forgive me. I haven't done anything such yet)."
At the end of the video, Nana Patekar said that he will ask for an apology in person if the young man comes in front of him. The shoot of the film took place in Kashi. Nana Patekar said that the localites of Kashi are extremely helpful and he hasn't faced any difficulty during the shoot so far. Take a look at the video:
In the viral video, Nana Patekar can be seen shooting in a crowded street dressed in a suit, amid a bunch of onlookers. The fan is seen running towards Nana Patekar, asking him for a selfie and attempting to click a photo. At this, the actor smacks the fan on the head, pushing him away. Then another man, presumably a crew member, is seen grabbing the boy by the neck and making him leave. The clip was shared by many accounts on X and Nana Patekar was slammed by the Internet for such behaviour. Take a look:
As soon as the video went viral, director Anil Sharma came to rescue Nana's image and clarified for the first time that the supposed slap was a part of the shoot. Anil Sharma said to Aaj Tak, "I have just come to know about this news. I was watching the same video just now. Nana has not hit anyone, rather that is a shot from my film. We were filming it on the road in the middle of Banaras, where a boy who comes near Nana has to be hit on the head. Shooting was going on and Nana also hit him."
He added, "But the crowd gathered there recorded it on their mobile cameras and then leaked the shot of the film. Now, Nana is being projected as a negative and rude actor on social media, which is completely wrong. Through Aaj Tak, I would request that the fans understand the truth of this video. This is a shot from the film. Nana has not hit anyone."