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. Kannada cinema is based in Gandhi Nagar ...

. He has acted in over 300 films which include over 250 Kannada films and few films in

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

, Telugu,

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India **Marathi people (Uttar Pradesh), the Marathi people in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Mar ...

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

and English languages. He has featured in theatre plays,

parallel cinema Parallel cinema, or New Indian Cinema, is a film movement in Cinema of India, Indian cinema that originated in the state of West Bengal in the 1950s as an alternative to the mainstream commercial Indian cinema. Inspired by Italian Neorealism, ...

and

television show A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming platf ...

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 (14 December 1934 – 23 December 2024) was 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. H ...

's '' Ankur'' (1974). His commercially successful Kannada films have been '' Bayalu Daari'' (1976), '' Kanneshwara Rama'' (1977), '' Naa Ninna Bidalaare'' (1979), '' Chandanada Gombe'' (1979), '' Benkiya Bale'' (1983), ''Hendthige Helbedi'' (1989), '' Ganeshana Maduve'' (1990), ''Gowri Ganesha'' (1991), '' Mungaru Male'' (2006), '' Godhi Banna Sadharana Mykattu'' (2016), '' Raajakumara'' (2017), '' Sarkari Hi. Pra. Shaale, Kasaragodu, Koduge: Ramanna Rai'' (2018), '' K.G.F: Chapter 1'' (2018), '' K.G.F: Chapter 2'' (2022) and '' Gaalipata 2'' (2022). He acted in '' Malgudi Days'', a

Doordarshan Doordarshan (), abbreviated as DD, is India's State-owned enterprise, state-owned public broadcasting, public television broadcaster. Established by the Government of India on 15 September 1959, it is owned by the Ministry of Information and B ...

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

Filmfare Awards South The Filmfare Awards South are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the Telugu cinema, Tamil cinema, Malayalam cinema and Kannada cinema. They are presented by ''Filmfare'' magazine of The Times Group. When it was intr ...

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

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

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 ...

. Anant was awarded the

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan (IAST: ''Padma Bhūṣaṇa'', lit. 'Lotus Decoration') is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 Januar ...

, India's third highest civilian award, in 2025 by the Government of India.

Early life

Anant Nag was born in a

Konkani __NOTOC__ Konkani may refer to: Language * Konkani language is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Konkan region of India. * Konkani alphabets, different scripts used to write the language **Konkani in the Roman script, one of the scripts used to ...

-speaking family on 4 September 1948 to Anandi and Sadanand Nagarkatte in Shirali,

Bhatkal Bhatkal is a coastal town in the Uttara Kannada District of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bhatkal lies on National Highway 66, which runs between Mumbai and Kanyakumari, and has Bhatkal railway station which is one of the major railway ...

taluk,

Uttara Kannada district Uttara Kannada is a fifth largest district in the Indian state of Karnataka, It is bordered by the state of Goa and Belagavi districts to the north, Dharwad District and Haveri District to the east, Shivamogga District, and Udupi District to ...

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

, 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 Parochial school, parochial pre-primary, primary and secondary educational institutions administered in association with the Catholic Church. , the Catholic Church operates the world's largest parochial schools, religious, no ...

in Ajjarkad,

Udupi Udupi () also known as 'Odipu' () is a city in the Indian state of Karnataka. It is the administrative headquarters of Udupi district, and one of the fastest-growing cities in Karnataka. Udupi is one of the top tourist attractions in Karnataka an ...

, Ananda Ashrama in

Dakshina Kannada Dakshina Kannada district is located in the states and territories of India, state of Karnataka in India, with its headquarters in the coastal city of Mangaluru. The district covers an area nestled in between the Western Ghats to its east and the ...

and Chitrapur Math in

Uttara Kannada Uttara Kannada is a fifth largest district in the Indian state of Karnataka, It is bordered by the state of Goa and Belagavi districts to the north, Dharwad District and Haveri District to the east, Shivamogga District, and Udupi District to ...

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

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

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

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

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 army aviati ...

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,

Girish Karnad Girish Karnad (19 May 1938 – 10 June 2019) was an Indian playwright, actor, film director, Kannada writer, and a Jnanpith awardee, who predominantly worked in Kannada, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Marathi films. His rise as a playwr ...

and

Amol Palekar Amol Palekar (born 24 November 1944) is an Indian actor, director and producer of Hindi and Marathi cinema. Early life and education Palekar was born to Kamlakara and Suhasini Palekar in a Marathi language, Marathi speaking middle-class family ...

. For a period of about five years, he acted in

, 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'' (1976), '' Bhumika'' (1978), '' Kondura'' (1978) and '' Kalyug'' (1981). Nag's arrival into Kannada films was through G. V. Iyer'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. Nag appeared in thirteen episodes of the television series, '' Malgudi Days'', 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 and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

patient in '' Godhi Banna Sadharana Mykattu'' (2016) has received critical acclaim and contributed to making this experimental film, a commercial success. In the comedy-drama '' Gaalipata 2'' (2022), he played Kishore, a Kannada-language professor. Muralidhara Khajane of ''

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It was founded as a weekly publication in 1878 by the Triplicane Six, becoming a daily in 1889. It is one of the India ...

'' 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 holds the title of ''Vedamata'' ('mother of the Vedas'). Gayatri is the ...

on 9 April 1987.

Political career

Nag was an MLC, MLA and a minister in the J. H. Patel government. He served as Bangalore Urban Development minister. In

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, he unsuccessfully contested the Chamarajpet constituency,

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

assembly election from

Janata Dal (Secular) {{Infobox Indian Political Party , party_name = Janata Dal (Secular) , party_logo = , colorcode = {{party color, Janata Dal (Secular) , abbreviation = JD(S) , president = H. D. Deve Gowda , founder ...

. He was pitched against then

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union ter ...

of Karnataka, S. M. Krishna from the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

and fellow actor Mukhyamantri Chandru 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. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...

. On 22 February 2023 BJP, Karnataka state unit organised a programme in the presence of state president Nalin Kumar Kateel where Anant Nag was said to join BJP, but he didn't attend the programme and later the programme was cancelled.

Filmography

Awards

References

External links

* *
Anant Nag on Filmibeat.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nag, Anant Politicians from Bengaluru 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 Bengaluru 20th-century Indian male actors 21st-century Indian male actors Recipients of the Rajyotsava Award 2007 Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in arts