He has played bad guy to chilling effect in Vidhu Vinod Chopra's Parinda, Shashilal Nair's Angaar and Partho Ghosh's Agnisakshi. He is back as villain in Shakti -- The Power.

Patekar was the original choice for Narsimha (his character in the film), but producer Boney Kapoor was apprehensive about casting him owing to the latter's alleged temper. He approached Amitabh Bachchan and Naseerudin Shah who declined due to lack of dates. Finally, Patekar stepped in.