Mrs. Neelkanti Patekar , wife of Mr. Nana Patekar , and a stage , television and a film actress herself for decades , making her Hindi film debut with the movie “Chhava” , in the role of “Dharau” . She has been acting since 1966 , when she started as a child actress in plays . She worked alongside the greats of Marathi theatre , up until she married Mr. Nana Patekar in 1978 . After her marriage , her family was her priority and hence her career took a back seat . But whenever she had the opportunity to do something , she made it a point to excel at her extreme best . She continued to write ( not just scripts , but lyrics as well , in Hindi , Marathi and English ) , and direct and produce for television and theatre in the 1980’s and 90’s . The shows were way ahead of their times . She has as many as 15 scripts to say the least to her credit , may be more , written for films , in all the 3 languages . She was approached by many great directors to play the central character in their films , but she never chose it to be her constant career as she always had family on the forefront . She acted in a Marathi film called “Aatmavishvaas” , directed by Mr. Sachin Pilgaonkar , which went on to become a blockbuster . Later she also acted in a couple of short films , which were critically acclaimed . Now after a time lapse , she is getting back to what she once loved , and that is acting .