Anant Nag
Biography
Dr. Anant Nagarkatte (born 4 September 1948) is an Indian actor whose predominant contribution has been in Kannada cinema. He has acted in over 300 films which include over 200 Kannada films as well as Hindi, Telugu, Marathi, Malayalam, and English films. He has featured in theatre plays, parallel cinema, and television shows.
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'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 aired television series based on the stories of R. K. Narayan. He is a recipient of six Filmfare Awards South and five Karnataka State Film Awards. He is the elder brother of acclaimed director and actor Shankar Nag.
Anant Nag was born in a Konkani-speaking family on 4 September 1948 to Anandi and Sadanand Nagarkatte in Shirali, Bhatkal taluk, Karnataka, Dominion of India where he spent most of his childhood. He has an elder sister, Shyamala, and a younger brother Shankar Nag.
Nag did his early schooling in a Catholic school in Ajjarkad, Udupi, Ananda Ashrama in Dakshina Kannada and Chitrapur Math in Uttara Kannada districts of the erstwhile Mysore state (now Karnataka).
In class 9th standard, he was sent to Mumbai for further study. He attempted to join the armed services but was rejected by the Army for being underweight and by the Air Force 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.
Anant Nag began his career with Kannada and Konkani plays in Mumbai. He went on to work in the plays of Satyadev Dubey, Girish Karnad, and Amol Palekar. For a period of about five years, he acted in Konkani, Kannada, Marathi, and Hindi plays.
