Nana Patekar Cremated With Full State Honours in Pune at 75

The Indian entertainment industry is mourning the loss of Nana Patekar, the veteran actor known for his work across Marathi theatre and Hindi and Marathi films. He died on Thursday, October 8, 2026, at the age of 75.

His last rites were held at his Pune farmhouse, and the ceremony carried a formal recognition not given to everyone: full state honours.

A state farewell in Pune

Maharashtra’s Cultural Affairs Minister Ashish Shelar announced on X that the funeral would be conducted with full state honours, citing Patekar’s contribution to Marathi plays and both Marathi and Hindi cinema.

The ceremony took place in the presence of state police, family and close associates around 11:30 pm. His wife received the national flag, and his son Malhar Patekar performed the rituals. Visuals from the funeral were shared after the ceremony.

What full state honours means

For Indian viewers, state honours are not a routine gesture. They are a formal acknowledgement of public service or cultural contribution, and they often include a police presence and the presentation of the national flag to the family.

In Patekar’s case, the decision underlined how deeply his work was embedded in Marathi and Hindi entertainment. His intense, lived-in performances made him a familiar figure to generations of viewers.

Doctors outline the final hours

Dr Shekhar Salkar, Chief of the Oncology Department at Manipal Hospital, Goa, shared the medical timeline with news agency ANI. The sequence gives a clearer picture of what happened on the morning of October 8:

• 2:30 am: Patekar texted a close friend saying he felt seriously unwell.
• 4:00 am: The friend reached his flat and found him unconscious and sweating heavily.
• Shortly after: An ambulance team began CPR.
• 5:20 am: He was declared dead at the hospital after about 45 minutes to an hour of cardiac massage.

Despite those efforts, he could not be revived.

Why it matters

Patekar’s passing closes a chapter for an industry that leaned on his presence across formats. Fans who followed his work in theatre, films and the wider entertainment space are now sharing tributes online. The state farewell turns that public mourning into an official acknowledgement of a career that shaped Indian screen culture.

For many, the moment his wife received the national flag and his son performed the rituals made an already large loss feel personal. At 75, he leaves behind a body of work that connected the stage, the screen and the audience.

For television and web audiences, Patekar’s work continues to circulate through reruns, streaming catalogues and social-media tributes. His farewell is a reminder of how film and television draw from the same performance traditions.

Source: IWMBuzz