Anant Nag

Anant Nag
Nag in 2016
Born Anant Nagarakatte
(1948-09-04) 4 September 1948
Bombay, Bombay State, India
Nationality Indian
Occupation Actor, politician
Spouse(s)
Gayathri (m. 1987)
Children 1
Family Shankar Nag (brother)

Anant Nagarkatte (born 4 September 1948) known as Anant Nag, is an Indian actor, known primarily for his work in Kannada cinema, and in addition he appeared in Marathi, Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu and Hindi movies.[1] He acted in Malgudi Days, directed by his younger brother Shankar Nag, based on the stories by R. K. Narayan. He is fluent in Kannada, Konkani, Marathi and Hindi. He won six Filmfare Awards South and five Karnataka State Film Awards.

Early life

Anant Nag was born on 4 September 1948 to Anandi and Sadanand Nagarkatte in the Chowpatty suburb of Bombay. Born into a Konkani-speaking family, his family settled in Shirali, Bhatkal in Uttara Kannada of Karnataka State.

Nag had his early schooling in a catholic school in Ajjarkad, Udupi,[2] Ananda Ashrama in Dakshina Kannada and Chitrapur Math in Uttara Kannada districts of the erstwhile Mysore State (now Karnataka). After class 7th standard, he was sent to Bombay for further study where he studied until class 11. This was when he was drawn towards the theatre movement of Bombay and he was selected to act in Konkani, Kannada and Marathi-language plays which he did until he turned 22.[1]

Career

Theatre

Once in Bombay he was suggested by theatre personalities Prabhakar Mudur and Venkatrao Talageri to participate in theatrical plays.[3] His first role came in a play when he played the role of a Hindu monk, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, that proved to be a success among the audiences.[3] He then played a role in a play based on the life of sage Gautama Buddha.[3] Following these, he played important roles in plays in Konkani and Kannada languages, latter directors K. K. Suvarna and Girish Karnad. In Karnad's play Yayati, Nag played the role of Pururava. He played major roles in Hindi language plays of Amol Palekar and Satyadev Dubey's socially and politically relevant plays. Around this time, in the early 1970s, he received two film offers, in P. V. Nanjaraja Urs' Kannada film, Sankalpa; and Shyam Benegal's Hindi film, Ankur.[3][1]

Film career

Following a theatre career in Bombay, Nag made his film debut with Sankalpa a 1973 Kannada film. He was introduced to director Shyam Benegal by theatre director Satyadev Dubey.[4] Benegal introduced him into Hindi cinema with his 1973 film Ankur. Anant Nag acted in many of Shyam Benegal's movies after that. Although he is well known for his mainstream Kannada films, Nag is also active in alternative Indian cinema.

His entry into Kannada films was through legendary G. V. Iyer's Hamsageethe.[5] It is one of the most critically acclaimed of his movies and is about trysts of a learner whose greatest search is finding the right Guru.[6]

Nag and fellow popular actress Lakshmi are a hit-pair in Kannada movies. They acted together in more than 25 films. Most of the films based on T. R. Subba Rao's novels and some of them directed by Dorai-Bhagavan. Right from late 70's, Chandanada Gombe, Naa Ninna Bidaalare (1979), Benkiya Bale, Ibbani Karagitu, Makkaliralavva Mane Thumba, Mududida Taavare Aralitu, Amma and other movies turned out as blockbuster hits that made Anant Nag and Lakshmi household names in Karnataka. Both the actors have signed a new film together in 2013 called "Gulmohar" directed by Devanuru Chandra that has already started shooting.[7]

Beginning with New-Wave artistic movies in early 70's, Ananth Nag branched into commercial cinema.
Comedy in Narada Vijaya, Suspense in Kuduremukha, Action in Minchina Ota showed his comfort in different genres. He also dabbled in television during this period. Starting with Jhenkaara in 1994 where he acted as father to hero Kumar Bangarappa, He started accepting character roles. In the 90s, he experimented with negative roles (Shanti Kranti).

He held his own with matinee idol Rajkumar in the movie Kamana Billu. Bhakta Prahlada, in which Rajkumar played Hiranya Kashyapu and Ananthnag as Narada muni was a big success.

His comedy-streak was showcased in Ganeshana Maduve, Gauri Ganesha, Udbava, Undoohoda Konduhoda, Beladingala Baale, Hasyaratna Ramakrishna, Yarigu Helbedi, dairya lakshmi. Ananth Nag is a first-choice not just to old-crop directors but also young directors like Yogaraj Bhat inMungaru Male, Gaalipata, NagaShekar in Aramane, Pawan Wodeyar in Googly (film). Dinesh Babu
Eredane maduve has been a surprise hit where he acted in a lead role with Suhasini Maniratnam.

Nag acted in Anahat. Marathi film director Amol Palekar found Nag's sensitive depiction of the king's dilemmas to have greatly enhanced the multifaceted complexities of the film.[8]

Personal life

Nag married Gayatri on 9 April 1987.[9] They have a daughter, Aditi.

Political career

Staying in Mumbai, in the heady days of Socialism, Anant Nag was a strong supporter of the reformist movement. He identified himself with the Janatha Party and was the star-campaigner for Janatha Party in 1983, 1985 and 1989 elections. He won from Malleshwaram constituency in 1994 and served as a Minister for BDA in the J. H. Patel's cabinet. Much before he also contested from Uttara Kannada Lok Sabha constituency in 1983 against veteran writer K. Shivarama Karanth. His tenure was uneventful, with him being criticised for not catering the infrastructure needs of Bangalore.

When Ramakrishna Hegde, supposedly his mentor was expelled from Janatha Dal, he stayed within Janatha Dal, leading to speculations of divide between the two.

In 2004, he contested a very fierce assembly election from Janata Dal (Secular) where he was pitched against the then Chief minister of Karnataka, S. M. Krishna from Indian National Congress, alongside fellow actor Mukhyamantri Chandru from Bharatiya Janata Party in the Chamarajpet constituency in Bangalore. However, S.M. Krishna won the election.

Filmography

Awards

Karnataka State Film Awards
YearAward typeFilmRef(s)
1979–80Best ActorMinchina Ota[10]
1985–86Best ActorHosa Neeru[11]
1987-88Best ActorAvasthe[12]
1994–95Best ActorGangavva Gangamayi[13]
2011–12Dr. Vishnuvardhan AwardLifetime Achievement

[14]

Filmfare Awards South
YearAward typeFilmResult
1979Best ActorNaa Ninna BidalaareWon
1982Best ActorBaraWon
1989Best ActorHendthighelbediWon
1990Best ActorUdbhavaWon
1991Best ActorGauri Ganesha[15]Won
2016Best ActorGodhi Banna Sadharana MykattuWon
2008Best Supporting ActorTajmahalNominated
2008Best Supporting ActorAramaneNominated
2015Best Supporting ActorVaastu PrakaaraNominated
IIFA Utsavam
YearAward typeFilmNotes
2016IIFA Utsavam for Best Performance in a Supporting Role- MaleAatagaranom
2017IIFA Utsavam for Best Performance in a Leading Role- MaleGodhi Banna Sadharana Mykattunom
2017IIFA Utsavam for Best Performance in a Supporting Role- MaleMaduveya Mamatheya Kareyolenom

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Films were bolder in the past". Frontline. October 2013. Retrieved 5 October 2013.
  2. ↑ Nag, Anant (24 July 2017). Public Face with Anant Nag│Episode 1│Daijiworld Television (in Kannada). Daijiworld Television. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Nag, Anant (11 November 2014). TV9 - Actor Anant Nag's Film & Life History : "Anant Antaranga" - Part 2. India: TV9 Kannada.
  4. ↑ Nathan, Archana (8 October 2017). "'An actor should be like water, ego-less': An interview with Kannada icon Anant Nag". scroll.in. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
  5. ↑ Anant Nag's profile on Chitraranga Archived 5 April 2007 at the Wayback Machine.
  6. ↑ "Filestube Alternative". Filestube Alternative.
  7. ↑ [chitraloka.com/news/2884-anant-nag-and-lakshmi-pair-up-in-gulmohar.html]
  8. ↑ "Anaahat: Delving deep into human psyche". www.rediff.com.
  9. ↑ "About real life and reel lives". The Times of India. October 2010. Retrieved 9 March 2014.
  10. ↑ "Minchina Ota-1980". wordpress.com. 25 April 2013.
  11. ↑ "Karnataka State Film Awards 1985-86". wordpress.com. 30 November 2015.
  12. ↑ "Karnataka State Film Awards 1987-88". wordpress.com. 12 October 2015.
  13. ↑ "Karnataka State Film Awards 1994-95". wordpress.com. 19 April 2015.
  14. ↑ "Karnataka State Film Awards 2010–11 winners". The Times of India. 14 March 2013. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
  15. ↑ "39th Annual Filmfare Kannada Best Actor Actress : santosh : Free Down…". archive.org. 8 February 2017. Archived from the original on 8 February 2017.
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