“I have to have a prominent role if not a main role. “When a film is offered, first I read the script carefully,” explained Nag. The size of a role matters little to Nag. “I told Hemanth if he can transfer what is on paper onto the screen, then that’s it. “When I read the script for the first time, I couldn’t keep it down,” said Nag. His most recent hit, Hemanth Rao’s Godhi Banna Sadharana Mykattu (2016), in which Nag plays an Alzheimer’s patient, opened to rave reviews. Whatever be the genre of the film – horror, romance or comedy – Nag could fit right in. Nag’s success as a commercial hero continued with such films as Naa Ninna Bidalaare (1979), Chandanada Gombe (1979), Benkiya Bale (1983), Hendthige Helbedi (1989), the Ganesha series – Ganeshana Maduve (1990) and Gowri Ganesha (1991), Mungaru Maley (2006) and so on. I knew that the years I had toiled in theatre, learning from the best in the field, will stand me in good stead no matter what. So, once the ball set rolling, I wasn’t afraid of taking chances. When you are a professional actor, you cannot sustain yourself through parallel cinema alone. “If there were five roles in parallel cinema, there were 20 on this side. “More commercial roles came my way after that,” Nag said. Then came Dorai-Bhagwan’s Bayalu Daari in 1976, which was a runaway hit. I was noticed in that role more than all my art films.” “It was not the main role and I thought okay, let me take a chance. “There was a song in it and I had to play the tabla,” he said. When he got his first commercial role in YR Swamy’s Devara Kannu in 1974, Nag was apprehensive. After his debut in Sankalpa, Nag grew to become a core part of parallel cinema, which was at its peak in the 1970s and ’80s. I excelled in it and persevered with it for about five years acting in Konkani, Kannada, Marathi and Hindi plays.” Switching streamsĪ career in cinema was around the corner for the actor. This was something I felt I knew instinctively. When theatre finally happened, I felt that something which I knew was coming back to me. “But because of studying in Kannada medium first and then English medium in Bombay, I lost out,” Nag said. His father sent him to Mumbai for higher studies at the age of 12 in the hope that he would become a doctor or an engineer. But never did it cross my mind that I could become an actor.” I would imitate people a lot and entertain small audiences. I grew up watching such films as Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baje, Amara Bhoopali, Ratnagiri Rahasya, films of V Shantaram and so on. “I would see Yakshagana and Bayalata performances as a child. “I grew up in Ananda Ashram and had very spiritual moorings till I was about 12,” he recalled. Nag grew up in Bhatkal in Karnataka and moved to Mumbai to finish his studies. Of course, the mass-hero films are also being made, but the percentage of their success has come down very heavily.” “A number of youngsters are coming forward to make interesting films. “There is a lot of interesting work that is happening today in Kannada,” Nag said. Nag is also gearing up for key roles in Hemanth Rao’s Kavaludaari and Rishab Shetty’s untitled film about the state of affairs of Kannada-medium schools. March 22, a film about water conservation, has been released in Dubai. With more than 300 titles, Nag continues to be a regular presence in most of the big Kannada productions. This apart from also appearing in Marathi and Malayalam films. Slowly, alongside a steady career in arthouse films in Kannada and Hindi, Nag nurtured an even more successful career in commercial cinema in Kannada. The 69-year-old actor and politician made a quiet debut with Kannada film Sankalpa in 1973. Nag cut his teeth in parallel cinema after a career in theatre. I had got the stamp of approval from none other than Shyam Benegal himself.” I had told myself then that I needn’t be conscious of how I look anymore. “Benegal asked me to first look to my left, then to my right and then finally told Dubey, okay, he has a photogenic face. “Sometime in the early 1970s in Bombay, theatre director Satyadev Dubey took me to meet Shyam Benegal,” Nag recalled. After a moment of contemplation, he smiled and gave the go-ahead. He hadn’t shaved, and felt that he should have been better dressed. Sitting on the steps in front of his house in Bengaluru, Nag hesitated when asked if he could be photographed. Only then can he mould his talent or fit into the skin of different characters and stories.” “Who or what is a movie star?” asked the Kannada screen icon. Fifty years into a successful acting career – five years on the stage and 45 in front of the camera – Anant Nag does not feel like a movie star.
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