Dr Anant Nagarkatte (born 4 September 1948) is an Indian actor whose predominant contribution has been in

Kannada cinema Kannada cinema, also known as Sandalwood, or Chandanavana, is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Kannada language widely spoken in the state of Karnataka. The 1934 film '' Sati Sulochana'' direct ...

. He has acted in over 300 films which include over 200 Kannada films as well as

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode ...

, Marathi,

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry ( Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam wa ...

and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

films. He has featured in theatre plays, parallel cinema and

television show A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed b ...

s. Nag made his feature film debut through ''Sankalpa'' (1973) directed by Prof. P.V Nanjaraj Urs. Sankalpa went on to win seven state awards in Karnataka. His foray into parallel cinema was through

Shyam Benegal Shyam Benegal (born 14 December 1934) is an Indian film director, screenwriter and documentary filmmaker. Often regarded as the pioneer of parallel cinema, he is widely considered as one of the greatest filmmakers post 1970s. He has received ...

's '' Ankur'' (1974). His commercially successful Kannada films have been ''

Bayalu Daari Bayalu Daari () is a 1976 Indian Kannada-language film directed and produced by the Dorai–Bhagavan duo. It is based on the novel of the same name by Bharathi Sutha. The film starred Anant Nag, Kalpana and K. S. Ashwath. The film was a mu ...

'' (1976), ''

Kanneshwara Rama ''Kanneshwara Rama'' ( kn, ಕನ್ನೇಶ್ವರ ರಾಮ; English: ''The Legendary Outlaw'') is a 1977 Kannada-language political film directed by M. S. Sathyu. The film features an ensemble cast including Anant Nag, Shabana Azmi, Amol ...

'' (1977), ''

Naa Ninna Bidalaare ''Naa Ninna Bidalaare'' () is a 1979 Indian Kannada-language horror film directed by Vijay and produced by C. Jayaram. The film stars Anant Nag and Lakshmi. The film was remade in Hindi as ''Mangalsutra'', with Anant Nag reprising his role whi ...

'' (1979), ''

Chandanada Gombe ''Chandanada Gombe'' () is a 1979 Indian Kannada-language film directed by Dorai–Bhagavan, and is based on the novel of the same name written by T. R. Subba Rao. The film stars Anant Nag, Lakshmi and Lokesh. It was a musical blockbuster with ...

'' (1979), ''

Benkiya Bale ''Benkiya Bale'' () is a 1983 Indian Kannada-language film, directed by the Dorai–Bhagavan duo. It is based on the novel of the same name by T. R. Subba Rao. The film stars Anant Nag, Lakshmi, K. S. Ashwath and Thoogudeepa Srinivas. Cast ...

'' (1983), ''Hendthige Helbedi'' (1989), ''

Ganeshana Maduve ''Ganeshana Maduve'' () is a 1990 Kannada romantic comedy-drama film directed by Phani Ramachandra. It stars Anant Nag, Vinaya Prasad, Mukhyamantri Chandru, Ramesh Bhat among others. It was a big box-office hit in its time and is considered to ...

'' (1990), ''Gowri Ganesha'' (1991), ''Mungaru Maley'' (2006), ''

Godhi Banna Sadharana Mykattu ''Godhi Banna Sadharana Mykattu'' () is a 2016 Indian Kannada drama film written and directed by Hemanth Rao, making his debut, and produced by Pushkara Mallikarjun under Pushkar Films. The film stars Anant Nag and Rakshit Shetty in the lead r ...

'' (2016) and '' K.G.F: Chapter 1'' (2018). He acted in ''

Malgudi Days ''Malgudi Days'' is a collection of short stories by R. K. Narayan published in 1943 by Indian Thought Publications. The book was republished outside India in 1982 by Penguin Classics. The book includes 32 stories, all set in the fictional to ...

'', a

Doordarshan Doordarshan (abbreviated as DD; Hindi: , ) is an Indian public service broadcaster founded by the Government of India, owned by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and one of Prasar Bharati's two divisions. One of India's largest b ...

aired television series based on the stories of R. K. Narayan. He is a recipient of six

Filmfare Awards South Filmfare Awards South is the South Indian segment of the annual Filmfare Awards, presented by the Filmfare magazine of The Times Group to honour both artistic and technical excellence of professionals in the Indian film industry encompassing ...

and five

Karnataka State Film Awards Karnataka State Film Awards are the most notable and prestigious film awards given for Kannada film industry in Karnataka, India. These are considered the highest awards for Kannada language films. They are given annually by the Government ...

. He is the elder brother of acclaimed director and actor

Shankar Nag Shankar Nagarakatte (9 November 1954 – 30 September 1990) was an Indian actor, screenwriter, director, and producer known for his work in Kannada-language films and television. A popular cultural icon of Karnataka, Nag is often referred to as ...

Early life

Anant Nag was born in a Konkani-speaking family on 4 September 1948 to Anandi and Sadanand Nagarkatte in Shirali, Bhatkal taluk,

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO 15919, ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reor ...

where he spent most of his childhood. He has an elder sister, Shyamala and his younger brother was

. Nag did his early schooling in a

Catholic school Catholic schools are pre-primary, primary and secondary educational institutions administered under the aegis or in association with the Catholic Church. , the Catholic Church operates the world's largest religious, non-governmental school syste ...

in Ajjarkad,

Udupi Udupi (alternate spelling Udipi; also known as Odipu) is a city in the Indian state of Karnataka. Udupi is situated about north of the educational, commercial and industrial hub of Mangalore and about west of state capital Bangalore by road. ...

, Ananda Ashrama in

Dakshina Kannada Dakshina Kannada district is a district of Karnataka state in India, with its headquarters in the coastal city of Mangalore. It is part of the larger Tulu Nadu region. The district covers an area nestled in between the Western Ghats to its east ...

and

Chitrapur Math Shri Chitrapur Math is the central ''math'' (community temple) for the Chitrapur Saraswat Brahmin sect. It has been located at Shirali in the Bhatkal Taluk in the North Kanara district of Karnataka since 1757. The other ''maths'' of the com ...

Uttara Kannada Uttara Kannada is a district in the Indian states and territories of India, state of Karnataka. Uttara Kannada District is a major coastal district of Karnataka, and currently holding the title of the largest district in Karnataka. It is borde ...

districts of the erstwhile Mysore state (now Karnataka). In class 9th standard, he was sent to

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...

for further study. He attempted to join the armed services but was rejected by the

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

for being underweight and by the

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an ...

for poor eyesight. He was drawn towards the theatre movement of Mumbai and he was selected to act in Konkani, Kannada and Marathi-language plays which he did until he turned 22.

Career

Theatre

Anant Nag began his career with Kannada and Konkani plays in Mumbai. He went on to work in plays of

Satyadev Dubey Satyadev Dubey (13 July 1936 – 25 December 2011) was an Indian theatre director, actor, playwright, screenwriter & film director. He was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1971. He won the 1978 National Film Award for Best Scr ...

Girish Karnad Girish Karnad (19 May 1938 – 10 June 2019) was an Indian actor, film director, Kannada writer, playwright and a Jnanpith awardee, who predominantly worked in South Indian cinema and Bollywood. His rise as a playwright in the 1960s marked the ...

and

Amol Palekar Amol Palekar (born 24 November 1944) is an Indian actor, director and producer of Hindi and Marathi cinema. Career Palekar studied fine arts at the Sir JJ School of Arts, Mumbai, and commenced his artistic career as a painter. As a painter, h ...

. For a period of about five years, he acted in Konkani, Kannada, Marathi and Hindi plays.

Film and television

Following a theatre career in Mumbai, Nag made his film debut with ''Sankalpa'', a 1973 Kannada film. He then grew to become a core part of parallel cinema, which was at its peak in the 1970s and 1980s. Being introduced to director

by theatre director Satyadev Dubey, he starred in six of Benegal's films: '' Ankur'' (1974), '' Nishant'' (1975), ''

Manthan ''Manthan'', also released under the translated title ''The Churning'', is a 1976 Hindi film directed by Shyam Benegal, inspired by the pioneering milk cooperative movement of Verghese Kurien, and is written jointly by him and Vijay Tendulkar. ...

'' (1976), ''

Bhumika Bhūmikā (Sanskrit: भूमिका) is derived from the word, ''Bhūmi'', meaning ''earth'', ''soil'', ''ground'' or ''character''. Hinduism The Upanishads speak about the seven ''bhūmikās'' or ''jñānabhūmis'' (fields of knowledge) or ...

'' (1978), '' Kondura'' (1978) and '' Kalyug'' (1981). Nag's arrival into Kannada films was through

G. V. Iyer Ganapathi Venkataramana Iyer (3 September 1917 – 21 December 2003) was a well-known Indian film director and actor. He was nicknamed "Kannada Bheeshma", and was the only person who made films in Sanskrit. His film '' Adi Shankaracharya'' (19 ...

's '' Hamsageethe'' (1975), in which he played the role of a disciple of carnatic singing. The film went on to win the

National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Kannada The National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Kannada is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organization set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India. It is one of severa ...

. Nag appeared in thirteen episodes of the television series, ''

'', an adaptation of R. K. Narayan's short stories of the same name, directed by his brother Shankar. Nag's portrayal of an

Alzheimer's Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As t ...

patient in ''

'' (2016) has received critical acclaim and contributed to making this experimental film, a commercial success. In the comedy-drama ''

Gaalipata 2 ''Gaalipata 2'' is a 2022 Indian Kannada-language romantic comedy film written and directed by Yogaraj Bhat. Not a sequel to 2008 Kannada film, ''Gaalipata'', it features an ensemble cast consisting of Ganesh, Anant Nag, Diganth, Pawan Kumar, ...

'' (2022), he played Kishore, a Kannada-language professor. Muralidhara Khajaneof ''

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the sec ...

'' felt his "fantastic portrayal as a teacher and Ganesh's sentimental turn are the hallmarks of this film".

Personal life

Nag married

Gayatri Gayatri (Sanskrit: गायत्री, IAST:Gāyatrī) is the personified form of the Gayatri Mantra, a popular hymn from Vedic texts. She is also known as Savitri, and bears the epithet of ''Vedamata'' (mother of the Vedas). Gayatri is ofte ...

on 9 April 1987. They have a daughter, Aditi.

Political career

He was an MLC, MLA and a minister in J. H. Patel government. He served as Bangalore Urban Development minister. In 2004, he unsuccessfully contested the Chamarajpet constituency,

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

assembly election from

Janata Dal (Secular) The Janata Dal (Secular) is an Indian political party led by former prime minister of India, H. D. Deve Gowda. The party is recognized as a State Party in the states of Karnataka, Kerala and Arunachal Pradesh. It was formed in July 1999 by the ...

. He was pitched against then Chief Minister of Karnataka, S. M. Krishna from

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British E ...

and fellow actor

Mukhyamantri Chandru Honnasandra Narasimhaiah Chandrashekar (born 28 August 1953), known popularly as Mukhyamantri Chandru, is an Indian actor and politician. As an actor, he is known for his work in Kannada theatre and cinema. The sobriquet ''Mukhyamantri'' (Chief ...

from

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the List of ruling p ...

Filmography

Awards

References

External links

*
Anant Nag on Filmibeat.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nag, Anant Politicians from Bangalore Indian actor-politicians Male actors in Kannada cinema Indian male film actors Living people Filmfare Awards South winners 1948 births People from Uttara Kannada Kannada male actors Male actors from Bangalore 20th-century Indian male actors 21st-century Indian male actors Recipients of the Rajyotsava Award 2007