Late poet and Jnanpith Award recipient Kusumagraj felicitates actor Nana Patekar at 80th All India Marathi Natya Sammelan in Nashik in 1997
In 2016, during the release of ‘Natsamrat’, he visited Kusumagraj Pratishthan and was honoured with Godavari Gaurav Award by Madhu Mangesh Karnik.
“Farmers feed the nation, yet are forced to fight for their own survival,” he said, urging cultivators to rise above caste and religious divisions and build the political strength needed to shape governments, not merely vote for them. “Politics is not my cup of tea,” the actor had said, joking that political parties would throw him out the very next day because he could never stop speaking his mind. Nashik : Veteran actor Nana Patekar ’s sudden demise has plunged fans and admirers in India and abroad into mourning, but in Nashik, the loss is deeply personal. To many in the district, he was more than a celebrated performer — he was Nashik’s beloved son-in-law. Even after becoming a national icon, Patekar’s relationship with Nashik never faded.