Has Nana Patekar served in the Indian Army?

Nana Patekar ( Vishwanath Patekar ) served as an officer in Territorial Army for nearly 25 years.

Officer : He joined Territorial Army as a honorary captain in the Maratha Light Infantry in 1988.

Kargil war : He went on to participate in 1999 Kargil war in the Maratha Light Infantry.

Retired : He retired as a lieutenant colonel from Territorial Army in 2013.

Facts : Territorial army is a military reserve force and provides support to regular Indian army.

Nana Patekar underwent rigorous military training for three years.

He also participated in basic commando training at the Infantry School at Belgaum

Pic Credits : Google Images / Web

What are people's opinions on Nana Patekar's acting? Why has he not been able to win the National Award for best Actor despite being nominated several times?

 Nana Patekar is a terrific actor even though he has not been celebrated enough. He belong to the category of the likes of Naseer, Om, Pankaj Kapoor though he has remained in the confines of commercial cinema, he has given some really brilliant performances right since Gaman to Ankush to Parinda, Krantiveer, Agnisakshi, Ab tak Chappan, Apharan, Welcome, Khamoshi, Deol, Natsmarat etc.

But the question is completely incorrect. Nana Patekar has won 3 National awards including one for Best Actor. His 3 National awards were -

1. Best Supporting Actor for Parinda (1989)- He also won the Filmfare award for Best Supporting Actor.
2. Best Actor for Krantiveer (1994)- Won every best actor award including the Filmfare for Best actor
3. Best Supporting Actor for Agni Sakshi (1996)- He was nominated for Best Actor Filmfare for this performance as well.

The other performances where he delivered award winning performance were Natsmarat (a role that has been immortalised by many actors in Marathi theatre and cinema). When asked about his views about “Natsamrat”, Irrfan said, “It was an outstanding film. It (film) should have won National Award for Nana ji (Nana Patekar), but I was not there in the jury.

Also he gave a commendable performance in Khamoshi: The Musical where he played a mute person and acted through his eyes.

But if you truly like Nana Patekar I would like to recommend one of his most underrated film and performance that not many people have seen. The film is called Diksha (1990). It is an art house film where Nana Patekar plays a lower caste person living near an ashram. It is a brilliant satire on the corrupt practices of the priest and Nana has acted with minimal dialogues.

Which 2004 film featured Nana Patekar as an encounter specialist named Sadhu Agashe?

 Nana Patekar plays an encounter specialist in the film Ab Tak Chappan which released in 2004.

His character of Sadhu Agashe in the film is loosely inspired by the life of police sub-inspector Daya Nayak (Mumbai Police Force).

Sadhu Agashe is a fearless, ruthless yet complex encounter specialist who balances his voilent job alongwith the responsibility of his family.

He also expresses frustration as he feels a puppet in the hands of politicians and the system. At the same time he has an uneasy relationship with the underworld.

His world begins to turn upside down when the old police commissioner (played by Mohan Agashe) retires and a new one takes the charge. Further his wife (played by Revathi) is killed at a wedding reception party followed by a series of events.

A sequel of the film was also released which was titled, “Ab Tak Chappan 2”.

Image(s) Courtesy: Google