Nana Patekar On 'Bad Memories' Of Working With Vidhu Vinod Chopra: 'Every Time I Meet Him, I wish...'

Nana Patekar, known for his outstanding roles in films like Parinda and Krantiveer, recently made a comeback with Vivek Agnihotri’s The Vaccine War. Reflecting on his past work, Nana recalled his experience working with Vidhu Vinod Chopra on the film Parinda in 1989, describing it as having “bad memories.” In a candid interview, Nana expressed his discomfort with Vidhu Vinod Chopra, saying, “Every time I meet Vidhu Vinod Chopra, I wish this was our last time”, said Nana in a recent interview.”

In an interview with Lallantop, the veteran actor revealed that he doesn’t like Vidhu Vinod Chopra at all. He explained, “I don’t like Vidhu Vinod Chopra. I have no control over my anger. I am still the same. That aspect of my life hasn’t changed yet. Every scene has its setting, tune, and note, there is a way to talk. Now, I don’t know if you watched Parinda, I was in the character, so when the director says, ‘Lights, camera, clap’, if you aggressively say ‘action’, it starts to linger in your ears. It echoes and hurts your ears.”

He added, “Let us be in our character please. What happens, when someone shouts, we forget the note that is required for the scene and unknowingly pick director’s note. Just say ‘action’ calmly. Let us get into our character and note. It is because of this we must have had a tiff. I have very bad memories of him (Vidhu Vinod Chopra) and even habits.”

Nana then turned to the camera and said directly, “Vidhu, please hear this. I want to tell you all this to your face and not behind your back.”

When asked to recall his last meeting with Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Nana said, “Every time I meet him, I wish it to be the last meeting.” “No, seriously”.

During the filming of Parinda, there’s a well-known story that has been doing the rounds. It’s said that Vidhu Vinod Chopra had instructed the cast and crew to bring their own food to the set. However, Nana Patekar disagreed and insisted on having food provided on set. This disagreement escalated into an argument between the two, where Patekar verbally abused the director. This angered Vidhu Vinod Chopra, who then tore Nana Patekar’s kurta on set.