Versatile Bollywood actor Nana Patekar was caught slapping a fan in a viral video. After an uproar, the actor came out in the open and claimed that he was rehearsing for a scene when someone unknown came near him. He mistook that person for a junior artist and slapped him as part of the "rehearsal".
"We were scheduled to have a second rehearsal. The boy in the video came in. I didn't know who he was. I thought he was one of our crew so I slapped him as per the scene and I told him to leave. Later, I came to know that he was not a part of the crew. This happened by mistake. If there is some misunderstanding, please forgive me," Patekar has been quoted as saying by ANI.
Some folks have stated that Patekar losing his cool was understandable. "People don't care about the personal space of celebrities. Nana's action was understandable, but not justifiable. The public expectation that celebrities should be okay with being accosted is unreasonable," a Twitter user opined.