Veteran actor Nana Patekar, who redefined on-screen intensity with his sharp dialogue delivery and explosive screen presence, and delivered memorable performances in films like “Krantiveer”, “Parinda”, “Welcome” and “Khamoshi”, passed away at his Goa home in the early hours of Thursday.Patekar (76) is suspected to have suffered a heart attack, sources said. The actor was brought to a private hospital after he was found unconscious at his apartment in Dona Paula, near Panaji, said Dr Shekhar Salkar, a senior doctor at the medical facility.Despite receiving CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) for 45 minutes, Patekar could not be revived and was declared dead at 5.10 am, he said.As per information provided by a friend of Patekar to doctors at the hospital, the actor had messaged him around 3.30 am that he was not feeling well.Patekar was a self-confessed angry man, but the anger he felt stemmed from the injustices he saw in the world around him.His empathy, however, was not surface-level euphemism. If on screen he played Dr Prakash Amte, Baba Amte’s equally humanitarian son, and could not help but praise both the father and the son glowingly, off screen, Nana walked the talk.His work for farmers in distress has often been spoken about. Last year, after Operation Sindoor, he was seen distributing relief material among victims of Pakistan shelling in Rajouri, Poonch and even committed to sponsor the education of an 11-year-old girl, who had lost her father.The man who nailed his part of an Army officer in “Prahar”, written and directed by him, earned him the honorary rank of Captain. He even served during the Kargil war and held armed forces in high regard. And, there is no disputing the regard and respect he received in the film industry.Among the bevy of stars, in crowded multi-starrers, he stood tall. Even in his supporting roles, he was second to none. More recently, when he made his OTT debut in Prakash Jha’s web series “Sankalp”, his lead character of Maat Saab straddled the grey area of morality beautifully. Like a chameleon, he could be at once gently persuasive and cunningly deceptive, fluid and commanding.Audiences are likely to remember him more for his intense portrayals in films like “Parinda”, “Agni Sakshi” and “Ab Tak Chappan”. Besides, who can forget the picture of restraint and poignancy as deaf Joseph Braganza of “Khamoshi”? But if his searing performances anchored more than one film, the actor’s comic timing was no less impeccable. Part of laugh riots like “Welcome” and “Welcome Back”, his legendary laugh is fodder for more than one Insta meme. In real life, his sardonic humour was no less fascinating.“Metoo” allegations might have cast a shadow on his illustrious career, but he was and will always remain Natsamrat. If his eponymous role in Mahesh Manjrekar’s directorial “Natsamrat” is testimony to his exceptional brilliance, the actor continued to give us a master-class in acting time and again.Mercurial in real life, perhaps, he admitted to “losing his cool at the slightest provocation”. But in films, his malleable ability transformed according to the demands of a diverse range of characters in over 80 films. Filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma with whom Nana worked in several films like “Bhoot” and “Darna Mana Hai”, in a heartfelt tribute, described him as the “God of acting”.The high-flown epithet isn’t really misplaced for the actor took each part — small, big mainstream or niche cinema — seriously. And his gravitas will remain not only an inspiration but a subject of study for students of cinema.(With PTI inputs)