Arundhati Nag (née Rao; born 1955/1956) is an Indian actress. She has been involved with multilingual

Theatre in India Theatre of India is one of the most ancient forms of theatre and it features a detailed textual, sculptural, and dramatic effects which emerged in mid first millennium BC. Like in the areas of music and dance, the Indian theatre is also defin ...

, for over 25 years, first in

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 ...

where she got involved with

Indian People's Theatre Association Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA) is the oldest association of theatre-artists in India. IPTA was formed in 1943 during the British rule in India, and promoted themes related to the Indian freedom struggle. Its goal was to bring cultur ...

( IPTA), and did various productions in Gujarati,

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 ...

, and

Hindi theatre Hindi theatre is theatre performed in the Hindi language, including dialects such as Braj Bhasha, Khari Boli and Hindustani. Hindi theatre is produced mainly in North India, and some parts of West India and Central India, which include Mumbai a ...

, and then in

Kannada Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...

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 ...

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, in

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 ...

. They stayed in

Chintamani, Karnataka Chintamani is a Taluk Headquarters in the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Karnataka. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka. Chintamani is one of the well planned and developed Towns in the D ...

for a few years. Following her marriage to Kannada actor-director

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 ...

(1980–1990), her association with theatre continued in Bangalore, where she performed several plays in Kannada: Girish Karnad's ''Anju Mallige'', ''27 Mavalli Circle'' based on the famous play ''Wait Until Dark'', ''Sandhya Chayya'' (Jayant Dalvi), Girish Karnad's ''Nagamandala'', and Bertolt Brecht's ''Mother Courage'' as ''Hulaguru Huliyavva''. She also worked in several Kannada movies: ''Accident'' (1984), ''Parameshi Prema Prasanga'' (1984) and ''Nodiswamy, Navirodu Heege'' (1987). Nag built a theatre space in Bangalore

Ranga Shankara ''Ranga Shankara'' is one of Bangalore's well known theatres. It is located in the south Bangalore area of J.P Nagar and is run by the Sanket Trust. The auditorium, which opened in 2004, was envisioned by Arundathi Nag, in remembrance of her ...

: .Dream of a theatre
''

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 ...

'', 21 November 2004. She is a recipient of the

Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (IAST: Saṅgīta Nāṭaka Akādamī Puraskāra), also known as the Akademi Puraskar, is an award given by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy of Music, Dance & Drama. It is the highest Indian recogni ...

(2008), the Padma Shri (2010) and the National Film Awards (57th) in 2010.

Career

Nag's career spans over 40 years of theatre, film and television. She is the founder and the Managing Trustee of the Sanket Trust, established in 1992, which runs Ranga Shankara, a theatre space in Bangalore.,. The annual

Theatre Festival, now in its twelfth year, has become a regular feature on Bangalore's cultural calendar. Nag continues to be actively involved in theatre: her most recent works include Girish Karnad's "Bikhre Bimb" (Hindi) and "Odakalu Bimba" (Kannada). Her last major movie was '' The Man Who Knew Infinity'' (2016), in which she played the mother of the mathematical wizard Ramanujan. She has also appeared in Hindi movies including ''Paa'' (2009), "Sapnay" (1997) and "Dil Se" (1998), Kannada movies including ''Golibar'' (1991), '' Jogi'' (2005) and "Andar Bahar", and Malayalam ''

Da Thadiya ''Da Thadiya'' (''Hey Fatso'') is a 2012 Malayalam romantic comedy film directed by Aashiq Abu starring Sekhar Menon in the lead role along with Nivin Pauly, Sreenath Bhasi, and Ann Augustine in the supporting roles. It was produced by Anto Jos ...

'' (2012) and Drama (2018 film)

Personal life

Nag was born in 1956 in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

, stayed in Netaji Nagar. Her family moved to

when she was 10. At 17, she met

, also a theatre artist. Six years later, the two got married and moved to

. Shankar became a well-known film actor, and later a director, most remembered for his TV adaptation of

R. K. Narayan Rasipuram Krishnaswami Narayanaswami (10 October 1906 – 13 May 2001), better known as R. K. Narayan, was an Indian writer and novelist known for his work set in the fictional South Indian town of Malgudi. He was a leading author of early ...

's '' Malgudi Days'' (1987). They had a daughter together, Kaavya. In 1990, Shankar died in a car accident. Arundhati continued to act in theatre, and began to work towards realising her dream of a theatre space, which in 2004, finally materialised into

, which is today one of India's premier venues for theatre.

Filmography

Actor

Assistant director

* ''

A Passage to India ''A Passage to India'' is a 1924 novel by English author E. M. Forster set against the backdrop of the British Raj and the Indian independence movement in the 1920s. It was selected as one of the 100 great works of 20th-century English liter ...

'' (1984) * ''Indian Summer'' (1987)

Awards

* 2008: Won:

– Theatre, Acting * 2009: Won: 57th

National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress The National Film Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role is an honour presented annually at India's National Film Awards ceremony by the National Film Development Corporation of India (NFDC), an organisation set up by the Indian Ministry ...

– '' Paa'' * 2010: Awarded:

Padma Shri Award The Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī'', lit. 'Lotus Honour'), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. In ...

References

External links

*
Arundhati Nag: Life is beautiful – Interview
''

Times of India ''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Nag, Arundhati Actresses from Bengaluru Actresses in Kannada cinema Actresses in Tamil cinema Indian film actresses Indian stage actresses Indian television actresses Indian theatre directors Living people Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts Best Supporting Actress National Film Award winners Screen Awards winners 1956 births Indian women theatre directors 20th-century Indian actresses 21st-century Indian actresses Actresses from Delhi Actresses in Marathi theatre Actresses in Malayalam theatre Actresses in Kannada theatre Actresses in Telugu theatre Actresses in Malayalam cinema Indian women film directors Film directors from Bengaluru Recipients of the Rajyotsava Award 2006 People from Delhi