Shah Rukh Khan mourns Nana Patekar: mentor, teacher, carrom rival
Shah Rukh Khan shared a heartfelt note after Nana Patekar's death, remembering the veteran as a straight-talking mentor, critic and carrom rival.
Shah Rukh Khan is mourning the loss of Nana Patekar with a farewell that reads less like a tribute and more like a student remembering his teacher. On Thursday, SRK shared a throwback photograph and an emotional note on Instagram, recalling the late veteran as a mentor, critic and fiercely competitive carrom partner.
Not flattery, just truth
In the note, Shah Rukh said his first meeting with Nana left him so awed that he began fiddling with his hair. The senior actor slapped his hand away and told him, in effect, to stop styling himself like a hero because he was an actor. Shah Rukh described Nana as someone who never flattered and never said what a person wanted to hear; he said what they needed to hear.
The tribute included the line: “He loved me and I loved him back.”
Mentor, teacher, carrom champion
Shah Rukh described Nana’s unusual way of showing warmth: a shout first, and somewhere between the third and fourth insult, the realisation that you were being hugged. He also remembered their games of carrom, which Nana would win again and again and relish.
He called Nana a mentor, a teacher, a critic and a friend, and wished for more conversations, another argument, another cup of tea and another game.
Why the note feels personal
The note does more than mark a passing. It shows how one of Indian cinema’s biggest stars remembers being shaped by someone who refused to treat him like a star. That relationship — equal parts correction and carrom — is what makes the farewell feel personal rather than performative.
In a film industry built on stardom, the memory of being told to think like an actor rather than a hero lands with extra weight. It also lets readers see Nana Patekar’s legacy through someone he shaped directly.
The advice he will carry
Shah Rukh ended with the words he said he would carry “till the end of time”: “hero banne ke chakar mein actor mat khona” — don’t lose the actor in the chase to become a hero.
For a generation that follows stars as closely as their films, the note is a reminder that long careers are built on craft, not image. The lessons Nana gave SRK are worth holding onto:
- Straight talk beats flattery. The people who help most are often the ones who correct you.
- Affection isn’t always soft. Nana’s rough manner carried real care.
- Mastery includes play. The same man who commanded the screen also chased carrom wins.
Shah Rukh closed by saying Nana had left a void in cinema and in the hearts of Indians, and called him a “masterful actor and an unbeatable carrom champion.”
Source: bollywoodHungama.com
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