Nagpur: Veteran actor Nana Patekar made an emotional appeal to distressed farmers on Monday, urging those battling suicidal thoughts to reach out for help, instead of taking irreversible steps, as he reflected on the deep emotional scars left by Maharashtra's agrarian crisis. Addressing the Jal Kranti Parishad in Nagpur, Patekar, who started NAAM Foundation around a decade ago, said farmers' suffering profoundly altered his understanding of life and pushed him away from the glamour of cinema to rural communities struggling with debt, drought and uncertainty.

"Even a frog jumps to save itself when someone tries to step on it. Then imagine how deep the pain of a farmer must be when he decides to end his own life."

Patekar said he and his colleagues often tried to intervene by speaking directly to distressed farmers and encouraging them to reconsider their decisions. Reflecting on his journey into social work, he recalled how he once planned to buy a car with his savings, but changed his mind after watching a television report on farm suicides. The money, he said, was instead diverted to support affected families.

"Visits to places like Beed changed me," he said. "When you see several young widows of farmers with their children and shattered families, you realize immediate intervention is necessary."

Those experiences eventually led to expansion of Naam Foundation, which has since worked on farmer welfare, water conservation and rural development initiatives across Maharashtra and other states.

"The happiness Naam Foundation has given me is greater than all awards and money from cinema," Patekar said. The actor also spoke candidly about his personal life and career, admitting that late Marathi actor Vikram Gokhale, with whom he shared screen in the acclaimed film, Natsamrat, was "better than me in every aspect of acting".

Recalling the making of ‘Natsamrat', Patekar said the role carried enormous emotional weight and was originally conceived as a stage production before he pushed for its cinematic adaptation.

He referred to theatre veterans like Shreeram Lagoo, saying roles such as Natsamrat demanded immense psychological and physical intensity from performers.

Quoting the iconic Shakespearean line used in the film — "To be or not to be, that is the question" — Patekar said he would still love to perform a play at the Suresh Bhat Auditorium someday.

Moving away from cinema, he said he now felt disconnected from urban life. "City walls feel like coffins to me now," he said. "I feel more alive in villages."

Patekar said he wished to adopt a village in a hilly region and spend more time working directly with rural communities, particularly on water conservation and sustainable development. Coming from a modest background, he said emotional connections formed in villages carried deep personal meaning for him. "When someone in a village pats me on the back, it feels like a father's touch," he said. "We are not political parties. We do not want awards. What matters is the satisfaction on people's faces because of the work we do," he said.

A Christian group has taken objection to the title of a book written by actress Kareena Kapoor and filed a police complaint in Beed city of Maharashtra against her and two others on Wednesday, accusing them of hurting religious sentiments of the community, an official said.

Alpha Omega Christian Mahasangh president Ashish Shinde submitted the complaint at the Shivaji Nagar Police Station in Beed over the book, which has a second author. In the complaint, Shinde has referred to the title of the book, 'Pregnancy Bible', authored by Kareena Kapoor and Aditi Shah Bhimjani, and published by Juggernaut Books.

The holy word 'Bible' has been used in the book's title and this has hurt religious sentiments of Christians, he has said. Shinde has sought registration of a case under IPC section 295-A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) against the actress and the two others. A police official confirmed receiving the complaint, but said no FIR has been filed.

Shivaji Nagar Police Station in-charge Inspector Sainath Thombre said, "We have received the complaint but no case can be registered here as the incident has not happened here (in Beed). I have advised him to file a complaint in Mumbai." Kareena launched her book on July 9. Calling it her third child, the 40-year-old actress, who gave birth to her second child, a boy, in February this year, shared a series of posts to promote the book on social media.

According to the actress, the book is a personal account of what she experienced physically and emotionally through both her pregnancies.

Meanwhile on the work front, she will next be seen in 'Laal Singh Chaddha' co-starring Aamir Khan in the lead role. Apart from that, she also has Karan Johar's period drama, 'Takht' in her kitty.