India, Oct. 8 -- There are stars, there are superstars, and then there are artistes. In a career spanning almost 50 years, Nana Patekar never strived to be anything more than an actor. And that is what made him an artiste, perhaps one of the finest Hind cinema has seen. For a man like him to emerge in the 80s, challenge the notion of what a 'Bollywood hero' is supposed to look like and then change the rules by which the game was played was no mean feat. Nana's success paved the way for many actors, who did not want to take the 'road more travelled' to stardom.

Born Vishwanath Patekar into a Marathi family in 1951, Nana began his acting career in his late 20s. There was no grand launch, no face on the giant poster, but a quiet debut with ...