Nana Patekar's impact on Hindi cinema went beyond his performances, with his dialogue delivery becoming a major draw for audiences in single-screen theatres. Actor Kamlesh Sawant, who played the role of Inspector Gaitonde in Drishyam 3, recently spoke about the late star's popularity and recalled an unusual story about his reported fee demand to work with Amitabh Bachchan.
In an interview with Pinkvilla, Kamlesh discussed Nana's career. The actor shared a story he had heard about Nana's fee for working with Amitabh Bachchan. According to the anecdote, Nana wanted to be paid ₹1 more than Big B to share screen space with him.
Kamlesh said, "We have seen him working and have also heard multiple stories about him. This one time, I heard that he demanded ₹1 more than Amitabh Bachchan's fees to work with him in a film. He said, ‘Bachchan sahab ke saath main kaam karunga toh ₹1 zyada lunga (If I work with Bachchan sir, I will take ₹1 more).' Then he took ₹1 crore and ₹1 for a film, while Amitabh Bachchan was paid ₹1 crore. This is what I have heard, but I am not sure how true it is."
Nana and Amitabh Bachchan appeared together in Kohram, the 1999 film directed by Mehul Kumar. It remains the only film in which the two actors shared screen space.
Kamlesh clarified that he could not confirm the accuracy of the story.
Kamlesh also said Nana was among the few actors who could make audiences fall silent just to hear his dialogues.
"There was a time when Bollywood would completely work on music and dance, but eventually, the focus shifted to dialogues. That era was started by Nana Patekar. People would clap at all of his dialogues. I have first-hand experienced the craze around his dialogues at Ganesh Talkies and Jai Hind Talkies. People would watch his films multiple times. They would go crazy hearing him deliver dialogues. This was Nana Patekar's strength," Kamlesh said.
Nana Patekar died at his residence in Goa on October 8 after suffering a cardiac arrest. He was taken to hospital, where doctors attempted cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) for 45 minutes but could not revive him.
