Amitabh Bachchan has ended up imitating himself... Balasaheb Thacheray is the most frank politician I have ever met... Don't berate Arun Gawli, give him a chance. These statements could only be coming from the irrepressible Nana Patekar.

What sets him apart from the crowd is his intensity and passion for life - charting out his life's course on the less beaten path - and forever open for challenges.

From painting cinema posters to watching himself on the screen, Nana has come a long way.

On the way up, he might have ruffled many a feather by his blunt manner.

However, according to Nana he does not 'interfere' but just makes his point. "If I feel strongly about anything, I make it clear," says Nana referring to the creative differences he had with Marathi playwright Vijay Tendulkar and film directors Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Gulzar amongst others.

How people react to my views, is their look-out, he adds. On a public forum, Nana discloses he got a call from former don Arun Gawli after he won in the recently concluded Maharashtra Assembly polls.

"Don't berate Gawli for his past, give him a chance," says Nana while lashing out at politicians for commenting on the sorry state of socio-politic fabric after Gawli's win.

Making one lightening statement after another, Nana also criticises people queuing up before some self-proclaimed sadhus and babas (Saints and Godmen).