Veteran Bollywood actor Nana Patekar passed away on 8 October 2026 at the age of 75 after suffering a cardiac arrest at his residence in Dona Paula, Goa. As tributes poured in, celebrity photographer Atul Kasbekar shared one of the most striking and deeply personal remembrances — revealing that Patekar had, with characteristic dark humour, prepared a stack of dry firewood for his own funeral well in advance.

The Firewood Anecdote

During a visit to Nana Patekar's farm near Pune, Kasbekar recalled being taken on a tour of the property — through the gym, the dining area, and eventually to a carefully stacked pile of firewood. Patekar had reportedly stored it dry so that mourners would not be made to cry by the smoke of wet wood at his cremation.

'He'd kept it dry, he explained, because wet wood smokes, and he didn't want people crying at his funeral merely because the smoke got into their eyes,' Kasbekar wrote. The photographer noted wryly, 'Only Nana Saheb could turn his own cremation into a comedy routine.'

A Portrait Session to Remember

Kasbekar had photographed Nana Patekar for his exhibition HONEST: Portraits of Character, what he now describes as possibly among the actor's last formal portrait sessions. The shoot took place at Patekar's farm, where the actor's first concern was not logistics but hospitality — specifically, how many people from the crew would need to be fed.

'His first question was how many people were coming. Not out of concern for the crew size, but because everyone would be served lunch,' Kasbekar wrote. Every assistant, spot boy, and driver was seated in the main dining area, with Patekar personally serving extra rotis and helpings of his renowned mutton preparation.

The Man Behind the Intimidating Screen Persona

Kasbekar painted a portrait sharply at odds with Patekar's formidable on-screen image. 'Nana Saheb didn't enter a room. He took possession of it,' he wrote, describing the actor as 'unpredictable, intense, fiercely individualistic' — yet capable of profound generosity with no regard for hierarchy or rank.

The photographer also recalled Patekar performing a casual set of tricep dips in his gym, stone cold without any warm-up, before cracking a smile at the camera — a moment Kasbekar had captured on video in April 2026, which resurfaced widely following the actor's death.

Circumstances of His Death

Nana Patekar suffered a cardiac arrest at his residence in Dona Paula, Goa, in the early hours of 8 October 2026. He was rushed to Manipal Hospital, where doctors reportedly attempted to resuscitate him for approximately 45 minutes before he was declared dead at around 5:20 AM IST. He is survived by his son Malhar and partner Neelu.

Kasbekar concluded his tribute: 'A phenomenal actor. The voice of a generation. A formidable presence. And beneath that intimidating exterior, a deeply generous, solid human being. His loss feels personal. Like a punch in the guts.' The outpouring of grief across the industry suggests Indian cinema has lost not merely a screen icon but a man who left an indelible mark on all who encountered him off it.