Mumbai : For actor Anant Nag, the announcement on Wednesday that he will receive the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for 2024, is replete with several happy coincidences. This year, Nag’s film ‘Manthan’ (1976) completed 50 years, and the film’s skilfully restored 4K version had a world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival earlier in May. And if you consider, 2024, the award year for which Nag is being honoured, yet another of his films, ‘Ankur’ (The Seedling, 1974), marked its golden jubilee.
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Nag, 78, shot into national prominence acting in six of Shyam Benegal’s early major Hindi films, one of them was the Telugu-Hindi bilingual film ‘Kondura / Anugraham’ (1978). The rest of the Hindi films that the two men collaborated on were released at regular intervals in the 1970s, namely: ‘Ankur’ (1974), ‘Nishant’ (1975), ‘Manthan’ (1976), ‘Bhumika’ (1977) and ‘Kalyug’ in 1981. Cinephiles will distinctly remember these films and Nag’s nuanced acting presence in them. Whether in lead or supporting roles, he remained equanimous. I personally think that working with Benegal helped Nag develop a conversational, low-pitch vocal delivery which became his trademark across Hindi and Kannada cinema. ‘Ankur,’ Benegal’s directorial debut film was also Nag’s Hindi film debut. In it he played the role of Surya, an urban youth alongside two other debutants: Shabana Azmi, who played Lakshmi, the young wife of a deaf-mute labourer played by Sadhu Meher. Their marvellous performances and the film itself consolidated India’s New Cinema Movement.
Anant Nagarkatti — he shortened his second name to Nag — was a Bombay boy who spent his early years working in a bank in the city while doing amateur theatre in Marathi and Kannada. He first came into the limelight with a Kannada musical ‘Hamsa Geethe’ directed by Ganapathy Venkatramana Iyer (GV Iyer), popularly known as the ‘barefoot director’.
{{/usCountry}}Anant Nagarkatti — he shortened his second name to Nag — was a Bombay boy who spent his early years working in a bank in the city while doing amateur theatre in Marathi and Kannada. He first came into the limelight with a Kannada musical ‘Hamsa Geethe’ directed by Ganapathy Venkatramana Iyer (GV Iyer), popularly known as the ‘barefoot director’.
{{/usCountry}}Also Read: Veteran actor Anant Nag to receive Dadasaheb Phalke Award 2024, PM Narendra Modi congratulates him
Nag’s role in ‘Hamsa Geethe’ as the legendary 19th century Carnatic singer Bhairavi Venkata Subbaiah was his first major screen role in Kannada cinema even though he had debuted in 1973 with the film ‘Sankalpa’. ‘Hamsa Geethe’, adapting the novel by Ta Ra Su (TR Subba Rao) was originally made into the well-known Hindi film Basant Bahar in 1956. Readers might remember the song ‘Ketaki Gulab Juhi’ sung by the doyen of Hindustani classical music, Bhimsen Joshi and the versatile Manna De.
Another of Nag’s notable Kannada films was ‘Phaniymma’ which was Prema Karanth’s directorial debut. The film’s music was composed by BV Karanth. Nag thus had significant beginnings in both Hindi and Kannada films. Unlike his younger brother, the equally well-known actor Shankar Nag who died tragically early, Nag became known for playing complex character roles, prime examples of which are in the Benegal’s films cited above.
The actor’s career, spanning five decades “had inspired generations of artistes and enriched the cultural landscape of the nation,” said the selection committee in its announcement on Wednesday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the actor and posted on X: “For several decades, his effortless performances, remarkable versatility and brilliance have left a very strong mark on Indian cinema, particularly Kannada cinema. In whichever role he had played, he brought a rare depth and authenticity…” Nag will receive the honour at the 72nd National Film Awards ceremony at Kevadia in Gujarat on September 22.
Nag is the third Kannadiga to win the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke Award — the previous two recipients being Dr Rajkumar, iconic Kannada actor and singer, who won in 1995, and the cinematographer VK Murthy who was bestowed with this honour in 2008. Murthy’s extraordinary camera work in Guru Dutt’s films is well known.
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Incidentally, this year is also the 40th anniversary of Nag’s television series Malgudi Days, based on the stories of RK Narayan. Decades later, Nag is still remembered for his memorable role of Jagan in the Doordarshan serial.
The multilingual actor has worked in over 300 films across Kannada, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malyalam and Marathi.
His laurels include several state and national awards, multiple Filmfare Awards, the Karnataka Rajyotsava Award. Last year, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan.
In the 1970s he joined the Janata Party and waded into politics. He was also a lawmaker in the Karnataka Assembly, and has in the past served as a minister of state for Bangalore city development.