ACTOR NANA Patekar on Wednesday said farmers were not beggars and loan waivers alone will not resolve the issue of farmers’ suicide in drought-hit areas of Maharashtra. “If politicians don’t give money, it won’t matter. Farmers don’t need loan waivers, we need to give them emotional support and comfort them. We need to talk to them. Loan waivers alone will not help, farmers are not beggars,” Patekar said during an open interview session at an event in Chinchwad on Wednesday. The event was organised by Kalarang Sanstha to mark its 21st anniversary and was also attended by MLAs Mahesh Landge, Laxman Jagtap, educationist P D Patil and Deputy Mayor Tushar Hinge. Patekar also said NCP chief Sharad Pawar was “always his hero”. He said, “He is the Chanakya of Indian politics.” Thanking Home Minister Amit Shah for helping NAAM Foundation, Patekar said, “I have friends in all parties. Be it Sharad Pawar, Uddhav Thackeray or Devendra Fadnavis, they are all my friends.” Recalling how he came into the film worId and his first film, Patekar said he joined the film industry because of late actor Smita Patil. “She told me that at one time, crores of people will see you. But I loved plays. I didn’t like films. I like to perform in the presence of people. Every person watching the play has their own camera in their eyes. Camera doesn’t have emotions. Each one keeps watching the play as per his understanding and draws his own inference,” he said. Patekar said, “Pain is present in everyone’s life and that is why NAAM Foundation came into being. But we should be able to use the pain positively and turn it to our advantage. I would sleep on roads. At the age of 13, I started working. I would walk 16 km to and fro and had to subsist on one meal a day.” He added that “humiliation and hunger were two gurus of life”. Patekar said he might have hurt some people. “They should not forget me, they should punish me. If you make a mistake, you should be ready for punishment,” he said.
