Actress Madhoo recently opened up about a memorable and unexpected experience while working with veteran actor Nana Patekar in the 1997 film Yeshwant. The actress revealed that during the shoot of an emotional scene, Nana slapped her unexpectedly to help evoke genuine tears. She also revealed how the incident left her gobsmacked, after which she slapped him back.
Madhoo on Nana Patekar slapping her
In an interview with Hindi Rush, Madhoo revealed, “With Nana Patekar, I became a method actor. There was a scene where I was supposed to use glycerin. He didn’t let me use it. He was like, ‘Feel it, you should have natural tears.’ But I couldn’t do it. What he did then was slap me for real. He slapped me so hard that I naturally had tears in my eyes.”
The actress admitted that the sudden slap left her angry. She stated, “I was extremely mad at him because we had done rehearsals, and he hadn’t done anything like that. His sudden slap shocked me. And I am so short-tempered that I slapped him back. He hit me, and my reflex was to hit him back.”
Ironically, the charged moment ended up working for Yeshwant. While director Anil Mattoo had allotted an entire day for it, the scene was finished in half a day. Despite the incident, Madhoo clarified that the Sankalp was not rude to her. She said, “Nana was never rude to me. He only showed displeasure when he wanted me to improve my performance. He would get upset when I used glycerin or stepped out of the character’s mood after a shot. I am a switch-on, switch-off actor, but Nanaji was against it. He believed in living the character you are playing.”
More about Nana Patekar
This isn’t the first time stories about Nana’s demanding nature on set have surfaced. Previously, filmmaker Sai Paranjpye recalled her experience working with the actor on the 1990 film Disha and revealed how they argued over a pair of slippers.
The actor recently starred in Sankalp and O Romeo. While the series garnered praise, the film received a lukewarm response. During the O Romeo trailer launch, Nana made headlines when he walked out because the lead actors and crew were late.
Up next, reports are rife that he might be a part of Welcome 4 alongside Anil Kapoor and Paresh Rawal, though the film is still in the scripting stage.