Taking to Instagram on Thursday evening following Patekar’s sudden demise in Goa, Shetty addressed him affectionately as "Dada," remembering him as one of the few people in the film industry who spoke with total honesty, free of flattery or industry formalities.
Recalling the spontaneous nature of their phone conversations, Shetty revealed that Patekar never bothered with formal greetings: “Dear Dada, I will miss your late-night calls. No hello and no formalities but a straight, ‘Aye Shetty, kya kar raha hai?’ And I would purposely reply, ‘Kaun bol raha hai?’, to irritate you only to get a ‘Saale, Nana bol raha hoon!’”
Beyond the playful banter, Shetty described Patekar as one of his sharpest, most trusted critics who never sugar-coated feedback after a film hit theatres. Whenever Shetty mounted sprawling ensemble casts, Patekar would bluntly remind him of his own directorial standing:
“And then, in your own way, you would remind me, ‘Abay, tu khud star hai, tujhe itne stars ki zaroorat nahi hai.’”
Shetty also shared a behind-the-scenes memory from the making of his 2017 horror-comedy blockbuster Golmaal Again. Patekar had provided a voice cameo, speaking through the body of Gopal (Ajay Devgn) during an eerie sequence: “I will never forget when you did a cameo in Golmaal Again. I asked you, ‘Dada, aapki fees?’ And you looked at me and said, ‘Tujhse paise lunga? Ek anathashram ka number deta hoon, wahan donate kar de.’ That was you, Dada. Straight. Unfiltered. Generous. And always genuine.” Rather than accepting remuneration for his appearance, Patekar insisted that the entire sum be redirected directly to an orphanage, staying true to his lifelong philanthropic focus.
Concluding his tribute, the director expressed the deep personal void left by Patekar’s absence: “I will miss being called Shetty by you. WILL MISS YOU DADA.” Shetty’s post joins an outpouring of grief across the Hindi, Marathi, and South film industries—including heartfelt messages from Shah Rukh Khan, Akshay Kumar, Manoj Bajpayee, Suniel Shetty, and Alia Bhatt—honoring an actor who remained fiercely authentic both on and off screen.
