Nana Patekar: From saving for a luxury car to becoming a lifeline for farmers

For actor Nana Patekar, a television report on farmer suicides in Maharashtra turned a plan to buy a luxury car into a mission that would eventually touch the lives of millions.

In 2015, Patekar had saved Rs1.5 crore to buy a new car. But one evening, while watching television, he saw the families of farmers who had died by suicide. What disturbed him most was not only their grief but also the hunger and helplessness visible on their faces.

"I had saved up Rs1.5 crore with the intention of buying a new car. In the evening, I was sipping my drink and watching television. They were playing an interview with the family members of a farmer who had died by suicide. More than the mourning for the dead, I could feel their starvation. It was visible in their eyes," Patekar later told The Lallantop.

The experience made him question whether he really needed the car.

"I decided to donate Rs15,000 each to 1,000 farmers," he recalled.

But his initial plan soon changed. A friend advised him to meet women who had lost their husbands before distributing the money. That experience, Patekar said, changed his life.

It also marked the beginning of a journey that took the actor far beyond cinema.

From a few cheques to Naam Foundation

Maharashtra was facing a severe agricultural crisis at that time. According to a report in The Indian Express in 2015, the state recorded 3,228 farmer suicides, including 1,130 in the drought-hit Marathwada region.

Patekar, along with fellow Marathi actor Makarand Anaspure, co-founded the Naam Foundation in September 2015 to support farmers and rural communities affected by drought, debt and water shortages.

What started with an idea to help 1,000 farmers quickly grew into a large public campaign. Within two months, the foundation collected Rs60 crore, according to Patekar.

"And these are not some big industrialists, but the middle class and lower middle class people who helped," he said.

The response convinced him that people were willing to help, provided they trusted that their contributions would reach those in need.

In an interview with The Indian Express in 2016, Patekar said nearly Rs80 lakh had been collected in a single day after the foundation opened an account.

"It's not true that people are not willing to help those affected; it's just that they're not assured if their money goes to the right place or not. But now they have faith in us that we're doing honest work," he said.

Patekar soon realised that financial assistance alone could not address the deeper problems facing farmers. The foundation therefore expanded its work into water conservation, rural development and livelihood support.

Turning grief into action

Patekar did not limit his involvement to fundraising. He repeatedly spoke about the circumstances that drove farmers towards suicide, including debt, poverty and the inability to provide basic necessities for their families.

"When I see the farmers, I don't see them, I see myself," he told NDTV in 2016.

He said farmers often struggled to afford medicines, food for their children and even fodder for their cattle.

For Patekar, the crisis was therefore not simply about farmer suicides. It was about the loss of dignity and hope among families trapped in poverty.

His early relief work included personally distributing financial assistance to families of farmers who had died by suicide. In August 2015, he distributed cheques worth Rs15,000 to 62 families in Vidarbha. A month later, another 113 families in Latur and Osmanabad received assistance.

Over time, Naam Foundation's work grew from immediate relief to long-term interventions aimed at making rural communities more resilient.

Water became the bigger mission

Water conservation emerged as one of the foundation's major areas of work.

Naam Foundation has worked on restoring canals and abandoned water projects, rejuvenating rivers, desilting water bodies and improving groundwater availability.

According to the foundation, between 2015 and 2025 its water-conservation projects helped restore 2,246 water sources and rejuvenate 178 rivers. It also worked on 515 streams and nalas and restored 769 percolation tanks.

The projects created water-storage capacity of more than 40,000 crore litres and directly benefited more than 77 lakh farmers, according to the organisation.

Patekar continued to speak about water conservation even as his film career remained active.

At the Nagpur Jal Samvad in May 2026, he called for water conservation to become a genuine public movement rather than an exercise in publicity. He urged citizens to take responsibility for saving every possible drop of water.

The work also extended beyond farmers. Naam Foundation provided financial assistance to families of Army and paramilitary personnel and supported educational initiatives for children living in remote areas near the Line of Control.

A simple life beyond the screen

Patekar's philanthropic work was closely connected to the simple lifestyle he maintained away from the film industry.

Despite his long career in Hindi and Marathi cinema, he was known for avoiding an extravagant lifestyle.

He also spent time farming at his farmhouse near Sinhagad Fort in Pune.

"I have around 10 acres of land; I plough my fields like a farmer and look after my buffaloes. I spend enough time in my small house there," he told The Indian Express in 2015.

His charitable work also predates Naam Foundation.

In 2010, Patekar donated his remuneration from the film Paathshaala to five charitable organisations. He also contributed to efforts to rebuild flood-affected villages in Bihar through the charitable organisation Anubhuthi.

In 2013, he received the Raj Kapoor Special Contribution Award from the Maharashtra government. He donated the entire Rs10 lakh cash prize to drought-relief efforts.

More than an actor

Patekar's contribution to rural communities gradually became one of the defining parts of his public life.

Speaking at an event at Sanjay Ghodawat University, he urged people not to turn away from farmer suicides and other crises.

"When one accepts the reality of death, life becomes beautiful. Don't look away from farmer suicides or other crises. Face the hard truths. That's when you start living with real purpose," he said.

In May this year, while addressing the Jal Kranti Parishad in Nagpur, he reflected on what Naam Foundation had brought into his own life.

"The happiness Naam Foundation has given me is greater than all awards and money from cinema," he said.

For Patekar, the journey began with Rs1.5 crore saved for a car. A television report made him reconsider how he wanted to use that money and, ultimately, his public life.

The actor's films brought him fame and recognition. His work with Naam Foundation gave him something he came to value even more a sense of purpose.

For millions of farmers and rural families who benefited from that work, Patekar became more than a familiar face from the screen. He became an actor who used his privilege to stand beside people facing some of India's hardest struggles.