Anant Nag

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g from a school in Anand Ashram in Kasorgod dist in Kerala , after which he went on to pursue his higher education from Bombay where he developed taste for theatre activities which landed him in many Kannada, Marathi and Konkani plays at the time. His role of Chaitanye Mahaprabhu in a Kannada play and subsequent roles in other key Kannada and Konkani theatre plays led to him receiving two film offers in 1973 , which he finally obliged making his debut in the same year in Kannada cinema.

Film debut and rise to prominence ( 1973- 1980) Anant Nag made his film debut in the year 1973 with the movie Kannada outing Sankalpa. However he rose to fame with Legendary Shyam Benegal’s directorial debut Ankur which saw him pairing with Shabana Azmi in the lead, both in their Hindi debuts. The movie which discussed the frailties of Human relationships and behaviour under various circumstances in the backdrop of a village through two key characters went on to be a huge success both critically and commercially, also going on to fetch several National Film Awards built a strong foundation for Nag’s career prospects. The year 1975 saw him returning to home turf with potboilers like Devara Kannu and Hamsageethe. The same year he was called upon once again by Shyam Benegal for his drama Flick Nishant , where he co-starred with an array of parallel cinema stalwarts like Girish Karnad, Amrish Puri, Shabana Azmi , Smita Patil and many more in the lead. He was seen coming up with a high spirited act in the landmark parallel house production. He then appeared in offbeat ventures such as Manthan, Bayalu Daari, Kanneshwara Rama, Sandharba,Madhura Sangama,Minchina Ota, in various languages like Hindi, Kannada, Telugu made him a well-known face in Indian cinematic geography with all of these turning out to be major critical and commercial hits of the period from 1976 to 1980. Ensuing releases in the career peak phase ( 1980- 1990) Anant Nag then went on to make his roots strong in Kannada film industry by delivering strong spirited performances in an array of hits. The mythological comedy Narada Vijaya where he played the title role of celestial figure “Narada”, Mareyada Haadu , Baadado Hoo and many more which were supreme musical hits and saw him catapulting to immense career growth in a blink of an eye. In the meantime he also made major Bollywood appearances in critically acclaimed movies like Gehrayee, Shyam Benegal’s Kalyug, where he was seen coming up with a towering act as a part of the epic tale of Intrigue and plotting between two business familes. He then went on to be part of Kannada movies like Bara, Nanna Devaru, Anveshane, KaamanBillu and saw him being more engaged in Kannada cinema with an array of releases. Shift back to Kannada cinema in supporting roles ( 1984- 1990) Anant Nag concentrated on Kannada films in the mid nineteen eighties which he started off by starting off with movies like Ramapuran Ravana, OlavuMoodidga, Accident, BidulgadeyaBedi,SedinaHaki, HosaNeeru, Aruna Raaga and many more which saw him cashing in on his star repute in the Kannada film industry and all of them had in experimenting in his choice of roles. His other Kannada releases of the time were: Avasthe AthirathaMaharatha Shanti Nivasa Ranadheera BalonduBhavageethe IduSaadhya Gagana Golmaal Radakrishna( Best Actor at Karnataka State Film Awards) Abhimanyu GaneshanaMaduve ( Karnataka State Film Award for Best Actor) Gauri Ganesha ( Karnataka State Film Award for Best Actor) Shanti Kranti Raat ( Hindi) Other supporting role releases ( 2000- 2016) Krishna Leele Preethse Andhra Hendthi Chitra Neela Maya Anahat( Marathi production) Stumble ( English production) Khushi Yuva Uppi Dada M.B.B.S Sajni Aramane Taj Mahal Pancharangi Dhan Dhana Dhan Myna Sakkare Vaastu Prakaara His latest releases were the movies Godhi Banna Sadharana My kattu, Jaggu Dada, Crazy Boy, Sanu Straight Forward in the year 2016. Anant Nag’s upcoming film is the sequel release Googly 2.