India, Oct. 8 -- Nana Patekar was all of 25 when filmmaker Muzaffar Ali spotted him for the first time at a stage play. Hewent on to cast Nana in Gaman, his debut as an actor, and the rest is history. Today, as we mourn the loss the actor, Muzaffar goes down memory lane to recall his first encounter with Nana.

"It was in 1976, when I was casting for Gaman, that I saw a Marathi version of The Threepenny Opera in Dadar. I was mesmerised by the nimble, sharp performance of a young twenty-five-year-old actor. He was like a Kalari sword-swift, precise and dangerous-in his words as much as in his body language. From that day, Nana Patekar became vital to my life," Muzaffar tells HT City in an exclusive chat.

Muzaffar further recalls how Patek...