Nana Patekar’s The Confession of Mary may release on his birthday: ‘No better tribute’ | Exclusive
New Delhi: Anant Mahadevan is racing against time to ready The Confession of Mary for a January 1 release, a date that holds special significance as it marks Nana Patekar’s birthday. The film, currently in post-production will be one of the few posthumous releases of the veteran actor.
Inspired by an actual incident in Kerala, the film presents Patekar as a church priest, a character that Mahadevan believes will reveal an entirely different side of the actor. Patekar had finished shooting his portions and completed the dubbing before the film entered post-production.
Speaking about the film, Mahadevan told News9 Digital exclusively, “The Confessions of Mary has Nana sir playing the lead role of a church priest. Based on a true incident that happened in Kerala. The film is in final stages of post production and we hope to make it a befitting swan song for the mercurial thespian. As he himself acknowledged, here is a Nana you haven’t experienced before.”
What made the experience particularly memorable for Mahadevan was Patekar’s unusual willingness to place himself entirely in the director’s hands. The actor had earned a reputation over the years for being deeply involved in the creative process, often scrutinising scripts and proposing alterations to scenes and dialogue.
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This time, however, the filmmaker encountered a different Nana. After reading the screenplay and attempting to identify areas where he could contribute his own ideas, Patekar reportedly told Mahadevan that the writing was so complete that he could find nothing to add. He then assured the filmmaker that he would follow his interpretation of the character without seeking changes.
There is also an interesting parallel between Patekar’s role in The Confession of Mary and one of his performances from the early years of his career. In the Marathi film Maafi Cha Sakshidaar, which was based on the infamous Joshi-Abhyankar serial killing case in Pune, Patekar had played a murderer. Years later, another story rooted in a real incident has brought him to the screen in a vastly different avatar, this time as a church priest.
For Mahadevan, the immediate priority is to complete the remaining work and have the film ready for audiences on January 1. Although the release date has not been finalised, the filmmaker is hopeful that the schedule can be met.
“That’s our wish, and we are working towards it. If everything falls in place, there could be no better tribute,” Mahadevan said.