I value both film critics and movie buffs: Anant Nag

Legendary actor Anant Nag is all set for his 50-year landmark in the film industry. He has been a theatre artiste for the last 55 years.

The veteran actor has acted in 50 plays and around 300 movies across Konkani, Kannada, Hindi, Telugu, Marathi, Malayalam, Tulu and English languages.

“I don’t look back but march ahead to achieve something new,” Anant Nag told Showtime. “It’s for the critics and the audience to judge how far I have been successful. I have put my soul in all my roles,’’ he says.

His debut film Sankalpa (1973) was an acclaimed film that bagged seven State Awards. Some of his blockbuster films include Bayalu Daari (1976), Naa Ninna Bidalaare (1979), Chandanada Gombe (1979), Benkiya Bale (1983), Ganeshana Maduve (1990), Gowri Ganesha (1991), Beladingala Baale (1995), Mungaru Male (2006), Gaalipata (2008), Godhi Banna Sadharana Mykattu (2016), K G F: Chapter 1 (2018), and Kavaludaari (2019).

G V Iyer’s Hamsageethe (1975), in which he played a Carnatic musician, was his first big hit. The musical bagged the National Film Award in the Best Feature Film category in Kannada. The 74-year-old actor also appeared in the mega-hit television series, Malgudi Days, directed by his brother Shankar Nag. It was based on the short stories of writer R K Narayan.

Learnings

As he grew up in Ananda Ashrama in Dakshina Kannada and Chitrapura Mutt in Bhatkal, he was taught to sing bhajans and chant mantras. He says these learnings strengthened his pronunciation while rendering dialogues for films.

Anant Nag’s first play in Kannada was writer-actor Girish Karnad’s Yayati. “I got a superb review when Yayati was staged in Mumbai. I played the role of a young man who is cursed to premature old age by his father-in-law. I remember that a newspaper wrote a very catchy line about my character and it was like an honorary certificate for me. Former Prajavani editor Y N Krishnamurthy (YNK), Girish and G V Iyer liked my work and helped me bag my first Kannada film,’’ the actor explains.

The veteran artiste says that he values film reviews. “I look for a negative point in the review and work on it. Some journalists also advised me to not play certain roles when I was new to films,” he reveals.

Konkani plays

Writer Prabhakar Mudoor in Mumbai had asked Anant Nag if he was interested in acting in Konkani plays. Venkata Rao Talegiri used to direct Konkani plays then.

“I was only 17 and had told Prabhakar that I have enacted in skits in school at Honnavara but did not have much experience. I told him that after rehearsals for a week if I am good enough, he could cast me. Finally, I got an opportunity to be a part of Konkani plays,” he adds. The actor says Konkani plays on Saint Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Lord Buddha and S L Bhyrappa’s Nayi Neralu were the stepping stones of his theatre career.

Variety of genres

“In comedy films like Ganeshana Maduve, Gowri Ganesha, Yarigu Helbedi and Undu Hoda Kondu Hoda, my characters had negative traits but the audience enjoyed them. However, when I played a villainous role in V Ravichandran’s Shanti Kranti, people did not like it,’’ he remembers. Anant Nag essayed challenging roles in Beladingala Bale, Kavaludaari and Godhi Banna Sadarana Maikattu. “There is some uncertainty in playing serious roles. I doubted whether people will like the suspense element in them, but even such films were received well,” he shares.

For his narrator role in K G F: Chapter 1, the actor says he did voice exercises. “There was no physical acting in KGF but my voice had to express everything,” he says.

Setbacks

The veteran rues that five-six films of the actor were shelved. “I had done a TV serial on the history of Kodagu. I played the role of Chikkaveera Rajendra, the last king who fought against the British. But the serial did not release due to some controversy during 1988-89,” he laments.