Nana Patekar born on 1st January 1951 is a renowned Bollywood actor and director. His father was a painter and his mother a house wife. During his school and college days he used to actively participate in dramatics. His real birth name is Vishwanath Patekar. Nana Patekar graduated from the Sir J.J Institute of Applied Arts in Mumbai India.

Nana Patekar made his debut in the 1978 art movie Gaman. After that he worked in movies like Aaj Ki Awaz, Ankush, Andhaa Yudh for which he received a Filmfare best supporting actor nomination and Salam Bombay but it was not before his 1990 release Parinda when he caught the eye of the film industry. Nana Patekar played the role of Anna Seth who is an underworld don and won accolades for his terrific performance. The movie directed and produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra and starring Jackie Shroff, Anil Kapoor & Madhuri went on to become a highly acclaimed movie and many believe the movie was a turning point in reality based movies in Bollywood. Nana Patekar won the national film award for the best supporting actor for his magnificent performance.

In 1991, Nana Patekar directed his first and only movie Prahaar: The Final Attack opposite Madhuri Dixit and Dimple Kapadia. The movie based on the life and events of a disabled army commando was rave reviews from the critics. Nana Patekar played the role of Major Pratap Chavhan in this movie. In 1992 Nana Patekar starred in the movie Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman opposite Shahrukh Khan and Juhi Chawla. His role as a philosophical Street performer was given thumps up by the Audience and critics alike. The movie became a hit and Nana Patekar had another successful venture under his belt. He was nominated for the best supporting actor in the film fare awards.
In the year 1994, Nana Patekar starred in the movie Krantiveer opposite Dimple Kapadia and Paresh Rawal. The movie in which Nana played the role alcoholic, lazy and unemployed Pratap who later becomes a revolutionary became a major critical and box office success. For his amazing acting Nana Patekar won the Filmfare award for the best actor and also went on to win the National award for the Best Actor. In 1996, he played a role of an obsessed wife beating husband in the movie Agni Sakshi opposite Manisha Koirala and Jacky Shroff. His next movie in the same year was the Sanjay Lila Bansali’s directorial debut Khamoshi: The musical, where he played the deaf father of Manisha Koirala. The movie was hailed by the critics and Nana received earth shattering reviews from the industry.
After that he features in movies like Ghulam-E-Mustafa, Wajood, Shakti, Bhoot and many more. In the year 2004, he worked in the highly acclaimed movie Ab Tak Chhappan where he played the role of Inspector Sadhu Agashe. This movie proved to be another critical success for Nana Patekar. Year 2005 saw Nana Patekar star in a romantic comedy Bluff Master opposite Abhishek Bachan, Ritesh Deshmukh and Priyanka Chopra. It was probably Nana Patekar’s first comic role in the bollywood industry. The movie was a successful venture at the box office. In 2006 he starred in another comedy movie Taxi Number 9211 opposite John Abraham in which he played the role of a arguing and irritating taxi driver. In 2007, Nana starred in the out and out comic movie Welcome featuring Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif, Anil Kapoor and Mallika Sherawat. In the year 2010, he starred in the Political Drama Rajneeti opposite Ajay Devgan, Ranbir Kapoor, Arjun Rampal and Katrina Kaif. The movie became of the biggest hits of the year and Nana Patekar for his brilliant acting got nominated for the Filmfare best supporting role.

Apart from movies, he has also done playback singing in some of his movies like Yeshwant, Wajood and Aanch. Nana Patekar is known to be a person who has done a lot of social work and gives wholeheartedly to the poor people.