Anant Nagarkatte (born 4 September 1948), popularly known as Anant Nag, is an Indian actor whose predominant contribution has been in Kannada cinema. He has acted in over 300 films which include over 250 Kannada films and few films in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Marathi, Malayalam and English languages.
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).8 His commercially successful Kannada films have been (1976), (1977), (1979), (1979), (1983), (1989), (1990), (1991), (2006), (2016), (2017), (2018), (2018), (2019), (2022) and (2022).
This page is based on “Anant Nag” from English Wikipedia, (r1376667251) CC BY-SA 4.0 used under the license. The original authors are listed in its page history.
Nag did his early schooling in a Catholic school in Ajjarkad, Udupi, Ananda Ashrama in Dakshina Kannada and Chitrapur Math in Uttara Kannada district of the erstwhile Mysore state (now Karnataka).16 In class 9th standard, he was sent to Mumbai for further study.14 He attempted to join the armed services but was rejected by the Army for being underweight and by the Air Force for poor eyesight.17 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 22.2
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 and Amol Palekar.1819 For a period of about five years, he acted in Konkani, Kannada, Marathi and Hindi plays.3
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.3 Being introduced to director Shyam Benegal by theatre director Satyadev Dubey,3 he starred in six of Benegal's films: Ankur (1974), Nishant (1975), Manthan (1976), Bhumika (1978), Kondura (1978) and Kalyug (1981).
Nag's portrayal of an Alzheimer's patient in Godhi Banna Sadharana Mykattu (2016) has received critical acclaim and contributed to making this experimental film, a commercial success.222324 In the comedy-drama Gaalipata 2 (2022), he played Kishore, a Kannada-language professor.25 Muralidhara Khajane of The Hindu felt his "fantastic portrayal as a teacher and Ganesh's sentimental turn are the hallmarks of this film".26
Personal life
Nag married Kannada actress Gayatri on 9 April 1987.14
"Padma Awards 2025" (PDF). Ministry Of Home Affairs. 25 January 2025. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 January 2025. Retrieved 26 January 2025. ↩
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 (1976), (1977), (1979), (1979), (1983), (1989), (1990), (1991), (2006), (2016), (2017), (2018), (2018), (2019), (2022) and (2022).
Nag did his early schooling in a Catholic school in Ajjarkad, Udupi, Ananda Ashrama in Dakshina Kannada and Chitrapur Math in Uttara Kannada district of the erstwhile Mysore state (now Karnataka).16 In class 9th standard, he was sent to Mumbai for further study.14 He attempted to join the armed services but was rejected by the Army for being underweight and by the Air Force for poor eyesight.17 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 22.2
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 and Amol Palekar.1819 For a period of about five years, he acted in Konkani, Kannada, Marathi and Hindi plays.3
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.3 Being introduced to director Shyam Benegal by theatre director Satyadev Dubey,3 he starred in six of Benegal's films: Ankur (1974), Nishant (1975), Manthan (1976), Bhumika (1978), Kondura (1978) and Kalyug (1981).
Nag's portrayal of an Alzheimer's patient in Godhi Banna Sadharana Mykattu (2016) has received critical acclaim and contributed to making this experimental film, a commercial success.222324 In the comedy-drama Gaalipata 2 (2022), he played Kishore, a Kannada-language professor.25 Muralidhara Khajane of The Hindu felt his "fantastic portrayal as a teacher and Ganesh's sentimental turn are the hallmarks of this film".26
Personal life
Nag married Kannada actress Gayatri on 9 April 1987.14
"Padma Awards 2025" (PDF). Ministry Of Home Affairs. 25 January 2025. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 January 2025. Retrieved 26 January 2025. ↩