It’s no secret that Nana Patekar is infamous for his short temper. The instance of him entering a scuffled with filmmaker Vidhu Vinod Chopra on the sets of the 1989 cult crime drama Parinda is well-documented. But now, Ranbir Pushp, National Award-winning screenwriter has defended the veteran actor from his reputation, having worked with him on Partho Ghosh’s 1989 psychological thriller Agni Sakshi.

Nana Patekar’s aid for farmer families in plight

“These are actually wrong interpretations formed by people,” said Ranbir, who also responded to the claims that Patekar costs producers money. He then quoted an instance of when Patekar came across the plight of several families suffering from farmer suicides, he chose not to purchase a car worth Rs 1.5 crore. Instead, he got his friend to divide that amount into Rs 15 lakh for each family. “The one who wipes the farmers’ tears can’t cause harm to anyone. He formed the NAAM Foundation, which has collected countless funds till today. He lives at a farm himself,” added Ranbir.

Why Nana Patekar loses his temper

The screenwriter claimed that Patekar does lose temper, but for all the right reasons. He recalled an instance when the actor saw a plastic bottle being dumped from a moving car on the road. “He stopped the car and picked up the bottle. He went ahead and stopped the guy driving that car at the traffic signal. He asked him to roll down the window,” said Ranbir.

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Patekar then pointed to a hoarding which had the image of Mahatma Gandhi and the slogan of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. “Who will keep Bharat swachh? Gandhi ji is gone, but you’re still around on this planet. So, is it not duty as a citizen of this country to keep it clean? Should I throw the bottle inside your car, assuming it’s a dustbin?,” added Ranbir.

Patekar also pointed to a message written at the back of a truck passing by, “Mera Bharat Mahan”. “Mera Bharat mahan nahi hai. Mera Bharat pareshan hai, tum jaise logo ki vajah se jo desh ko swachh nahi rakh pate” (My Bharat isn’t great, it’s concerned because of people like you who can’t keep the country clean),” said the actor. “You can call it anger, but you can also call it guidance,” argued Ranbir.

Was there romance between Nana Patekar and Manisha Koirala?

Ranbir also responded to the rumours of the brewing romance between Patekar and his Agni Sakshi co-star Manisha Koirala. “There was something. God knows if it was friendship or romance. But both were close. They had a mutual understanding. They discussed scenes before performing. You can see those performances on the screen,” said Ranbir.

However, he clarified that he didn’t even try finding out if there was more than friendship and collaboration between the two actors. “I got to read about it in the papers later. But I never observed it myself. And usually, I’d keep to my own work, watch a few scenes on set, and leave,” added Ranbir.

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Nana Patekar and Manisha Koirala had a 19-year age gap. They first worked together in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s 1996 directorial debut, Khamoshi: The Musical, where she played the daughter of Nana’s character. After doing Agnisakshi in the same year, they also reunited with Partho Ghosh for his 1998 film Yugpurush.