Nana Patekar, 64, may look stubborn to a few, but in reality he's just a bright man with a point of view. He may look kadak from the outside, but is a softie inside. He works on his own terms and hates wasting time, but is extremely affectionate, very caring and brutally honest. He may have refused the offer to join politics, but nothing can stop him from spending his own money for suffering farmers. He is a great cook, is a stickler for cleanliness and a doting son. Over an hour-long conversation, ahead of his upcoming entertainerWelcome Back, he talks to Bombay Times about his anger being a cover-up for his inferiority, his biggest regret in his life and why he can never be a politician. Excerpts:

How did you come into films?
I come from a small village called Murud Janjira near Alibaug. I started doing theatre right from school days and later joined the Sir JJ Institute of Applied Art after which I joined an advertising agency. I came into films because of Smita Patil, who was already doing films and knew me from Pune. I had been reluctant but she insisted. She took me to Ravi Chopra for a role inAaj Ki Awazand initially, I was offered a lousy role of one of the rapists. I said no and told them what kind of actor I was. I was annoyed and was leaving just when Smita came. She asked me, 'Why are you going?' I abused the person who had offered me that role. And then I got a better role which also was not great but I got recognised for that film.

Tell us about your father?
My father was into textile painting and ran a small business. He encouraged me a lot and loved seeing my plays. He always liked tamasha, be it through films or plays. He would take me everywhere to see plays. Initially, when I did theatre in my village, I used to think that my father loved my older brother more than me. But then once I did a play calledValmikiand my father came all the way from Mumbai to see my play. I realised that was a good way to attract his attention and I continued doing that. I loved my father like anything but was also afraid of him.When I was just 13, we went from being middle class to lower middle class and finally lower class, as someone close to my father took away everything he had including his property. All of a sudden, I started working at the age of 13. After school, I would go walk up and down eight kilometres to Chunabhatti to paint film posters to make `35 per month and get a meal a day. I was in Class IX but that humiliation and hunger taught me so much that I didn't need to go to any acting school. I had to support my family as my father had lost everything. He would always say that'Bachchon ke din aaye khane ke, aur mere paas kuch nahi hai.'He was always worried and felt emotionally so sad that eventually he had a heart attack and died when I was 28.