Rangoli artist Shreehari Pavale works on a rangoli portrait paying tribute to veteran actor Nana Patekar in Vashi on Thursday
In an annual report of NAAM Foundation, the organisation he founded with fellow actor Makarand Anaspure in 2015, Patekar reflected on what truly mattered: “The greatest happiness came from going beyond oneself and doing something for another person. It all began in 2015 when Nana was about to buy a luxury car and had even set aside Rs 1.5 crore. For Vaibhav Kalyane (25) from drought-hit Latur, Nana’s intervention altered the course of his life.
He was the helping hand that appeared when everything else seemed lost.
Eleven years later, that mill has allowed me to raise my children with dignity,” teary-eyed Gaikwad said. Pune/Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar/Kolhapur: Everybody remembers Nana Patekar as the actor of thunderous monologues, piercing stares and charged silences. But far away from the arc lights, he spent years lending that same fierce intensity to a far greater cause — helping Maharashtra ’s drought-scorched farming communities rebuild their lives. The work would never be finished. What mattered was the satisfaction of having tried hard. The rain would come too little, too much or at the wrong time. The problems would multiply, as the fight was with changing nature. But the work will not stop. Whether I am here or not. He used his rare celebrity not to elevate himself, but to focus attention on the state’s most vulnerable section. For hundreds of families, Nana wasn’t a star. Then a late-night television report changed everything. She remembered her first meeting with Nana. “I met him when my daughter was only a month old. He held her in his arms. The foundation provided me with financial aid and helped me set up a flour mill. “The continuous drought meant our family struggled even for two square meals every day. NAAM Foundation sponsored my entire engineering education.
Today, I work in an engineering firm in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar,” Kalyane, the first graduate in his family, said.
