Dr Mickey Mehta recalls fond memories of Nana Patekar, shares account of how their friendship began

Mumbai: Health guru and Nana Patekar’s friend Dr Mickey Mehta remembered the late actor with fondness.

He recalled the circumstances that brought the two together and praised his versatility, wit and distinctive personality. Speaking to IANS, Mehta said that although he had known of Patekar since their younger days because they lived in neighbouring areas, the two were not friends at the time. Their friendship began years later when Mehta was assigned to pick up the actor for an event organized by Amruta Fadnavis’ foundation.

“He was a great actor, a great villain, a great supporting actor, and a great comedian, as we saw in Welcome. And we knew him. He used to live in our area, in our childhood area, in Khetwadi. I used to live in Grant Road. But we were not friends with him then,” he said.

Recalling their first meeting that led to a friendship, Mehta said, “We first became friends when he came to Madam Amrita Fadnavis' program, her foundation's program, Divyaj, as a chief guest one day. So, I was assigned the duty to pick him up. So, I picked her up from her house in Lokhandwala, in my car. And we had a conversation in the car, a very interesting conversation.”

Their paths crossed again in Dubai, where Patekar was shooting for “Welcome.” Mehta said the two also happened to work out at the same gym during his visit to the city.

“After that, I met him in Dubai. I had gone for some work and he was shooting for Welcome there. So, he used to work out in Dubai's gym. We also worked out together there. And we met for the third time in another event. I met him only three times,” he recalled.

Adding to this, the health guru recalled, “So, he used to work out in Dubai's gym. We also worked out together there. And we met for the third time in another event. I met him only three times. And I got to know him very well in those three times. And he had a very good, entertaining behaviour. He was very spontaneous.”

“He had a very good sense of repartee. He was humorous too, with a straight face. And he was a little finicky. I heard a lot of his stories from my friends. And he was a very interesting person,” concluded Mickey Mehta.

Veteran actor Nana Patekar passed away on October 8. As per reports, he was found unresponsive at his Goa residence after reportedly suffering severe chest discomfort.

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