A video showing veteran actor Nana Patekar whacking a fan asking for a selfie has gone viral on social media. The clip circulating on the internet is from Varanasi where the 72-year-old actor is shooting for his next feature film Journey with Gadar 2 filmmaker Anil Sharma. As netizens slammed the actor for being rude and physically violent, Sharma clarified stating it is a shot from his film.
In the 10-second clip, Nana Patekar is seen getting ready to shoot a scene when a fan comes close to him and tries to click a selfie. The visibly angry actor whacked the fan after which a guard stationed close to Patekar grabbed the young man by his neck and took him away.
Anil Sharma explained that the actor has not hit anyone and the video being circulated is a shot from his film Journey, which also stars his son, Utkarsh Sharma.
Anil told India Today, “We were filming it on the road in the middle of Banaras, where a boy who comes near Nana has to be hit on the head. Shooting was going on and Nana also hit him. But the crowd gathered there recorded it on their mobile cameras and then leaked the shot of the film. Now, Nana is being projected as a negative and rude actor on social media, which is completely wrong.”
Meanwhile, on the work front, Nana Patekar returned to the big screen after five years with The Vaccine War directed by Vivek Agnihotri. Before that, he was featured in the Rajinikanth-starrer Kaala (2018), as an antagonist.
In The Vaccine War, Nana essays the role of Balram Bhargava, former director general of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), who was actively involved in dealing with the pandemic and was part of the country's COVID-19 working group. It also starred Pallavi Joshi, Raima Sen, Anupam Kher, Girija Oak, Nivedita Bhattacharya, Sapthami Gowda, and Mohan Kapur.
