Nana Patekar’s death on October 8 at his Goa home threw up an interesting side to the Indian superstar-filmmaker. From the start of his career four decades ago, Nana chose to walk a path less trodden by other insecure actors. He appeared on a set for work and disappeared quietly into the woodwork after pack-up! Whether he was on his 27-acre farm house at Donje, near Pune, famously called Nanachi Wadi or whether he was in his Dona Paula, Goa apartment, only few knew. Nana was so confident about his USP, he said to me, “Those who wish to work with me, will always find me, no matter where I am. I don’t need to stay in Mumbai to find work.”
Few celebs have this supreme confidence
Sunny Deol is another superstar who has made Manali his home for the last six to seven years. He reportedly rents three properties with an extended lease to be renewed every five years, in the hill-station, which include his home, staff quarters and a gymnasium. Sunny too had specified to me how he loved the quiet of the village surrounding his ‘home’ and he liked looking up at the stars on some nights. “Cannot tell you how green my valley is,” he teased, making his colleagues and others envious of his surroundings. An insider says, “After he lost Dharmendra last November, Sunny insists on spending a lot of time with his mother, Prakash at their Juhu home. His wife and his sons also reside in the same home, so Sunny does the Mumbai-Manali balancing act. Not to forget, his busy work schedules bring him to the Bay frequently.”
Mithun… nestled in the Nilgiris
At the height of his superstardom, early 90s to mid-2000, Mithun Chakraborty, spent around 15 odd years in Ooty (later officially named Udhagamandalam). Mithun was so big in those years that he actually managed to shoot over 75-80 low-budget films in the hill-station, nestled in the Nilgiris. And, also secured business for his resort, The Monarch because most film-units were reportedly required to stay there.
When his sons Mimoh and Namashi decided to pursue acting, Mithun moved his base back to Madh Island in Mumbai. Politics took him to his original home, Kolkata, where he owns a home in New Town, near the Patharghata area. Today, the actor-politician quietly shuttles between the two megalopolises, keeping himself fully connected to films as well as politics.
Marlon Brando stayed on a French island
In the 60s, Brando owned a private island near Tahiti. He is said to have leased (for 99 years) the Tetiaroa Atoll, a group of a dozen islands in French Polynesia. His friend, Jack Nicholson chose to make Mulholland Drive, California his home from the 60s. To secure his privacy, he extended his property by purchasing the adjacent plots belonging to Brando. Mostly a recluse, the legend only stepped out for his film work.
Daniel Day Lewis lives in Ireland
Away from the glitz and glamour of Los Angeles, the Academy Award winning legend has had a modest home in Annamoe, Ireland since 1997. He indulges in woodworking and cobbling there. Everyone knows that when Martin Scorsese was desperately seeking Daniel Day for his Gangs of New York (2002) he couldn’t actually find him. It was Leonardo DiCaprio who helped trace Lewis’ number and the rest is history.
Majority of Bollywood suffers from insecurity pangs
Most of Bollywood; especially actresses, are diffident when it comes to addresses outside Mumbai. They fear—out of sight, is out of mind. We know they have ‘permanent’ homes in other places in the world, but they prefer to be cagey about these. So, even when production houses confirm to the media that a certain actress has booked tickets to and fro, from a certain destination for a shoot/promotion activity, the star will go blue in the face issuing denials.
