Veteran actor and filmmaker Nana Patekar died on Thursday morning after suffering a cardiac arrest at his home in Goa. He was 75. Nearly three hours before his death, he had texted his friend that he was not feeling well. The message, however, went unanswered. Then a call was, and his caretaker was sent to call an ambulance, Dr Shekhar Salkar, Chief of Department of Oncology at Manipal Hospital in Goa, told news agency ANI.
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According to Dr Salkar, Nana Patekar texted his friend at around 2:30 am, stating that he was not feeling well. Since it was late at night, the friend missed the message until Patekar called him.
“At around 2:30, he sent a message to his friend that he was not feeling well. But as it was nighttime, his friend could not see the message. He then called him. He (friend) went to his house at around 4 o’clock,” Dr Salkar said. “By that time, he (Patekar) was sweating… He was losing consciousness.”
Patekar stayed close to Manipal Hospital, the doctor said. His caretaker was rushed to the hospital to fetch an ambulance.
“His caretaker was sent to the hospital. He brought back our ambulance and our emergency room (ER) team responded. They initiated cardiac massage since he was unresponsive. Patekar was shifted to our hospital around 4:20-4:30 am. We tried our best, but he was brought dead.”
Patekar was declared dead at around 5:30 am, the doctor said.
“Cardiac massage was given for almost 45 minutes to an hour, but he just could not be saved.”
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Cardiac massage, commonly known as chest compressions, is a life-saving emergency technique used to manually pump blood through the body when the heart stops beating.
A police complaint was filed since it was a medico-legal case (MLC). The body has now been taken to the Goa Medical College for a post-mortem examination.
“His family was not there. He was accompanied by friends and a caretaker,” Dr Salkar said.
#WATCH | Goa: Dr. Shekhar Salkar, Chief of the Oncology Department, Manipal Hospital, says, “Nana Patekar was brought dead to the hospital… he was declared dead by 5:30 am. We had tried our best to save him, but he was brought dead. Cardiac massage was given for almost 45 minutes to an hour, but he just could not be saved. As per what we recalled, at around 2:30, he sent a message to his friend that he was not feeling well. But as it was nighttime, his friend could not see the message. So he just called him. He went to his house at around 4 o’clock. By that time, he was sweating and all. They moved him, all those primary things. But he was slowly becoming unconscious… So they sent his caretaker to the hospital… He took our ambulance. When our ER team went there, they started cardiac massage because he was totally unresponsive… They shifted him to our hospital at around 4:20 or 4:30 am. We also tried our best, but he was brought dead. Then we had to file a police case because there’s an MLC (medico-legal case). The body has now been taken to the Goa Medical College for post-mortem. His family was not there. His friends were there with him and a caretaker.”
— ANI (@ANI) October 8, 2026
Born Vishwanath Patekar on January 1, 1951, in Maharashtra, Nana Patekar made his Hindi film debut with Gaman in 1978. His breakthrough came with films such as Salaam Bombay! and Parinda.
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He was the first actor in Hindi cinema history to win Filmfare Awards across all three major acting categories: Best Supporting Actor (Parinda), Best Actor (Krantiveer), and Best Villain (Angaar in 1992 and Apaharan in 2005).