Anant Nag Age, Wife, Family, Biography & More

Bio/Wiki
Full name	Anant Nagarkatte
Other Name	Ananth Nag
Profession(s)	• Actor • Politician
Physical Stats & More
Height (approx.)	in centimeters- 180 cm in meters- 1.80 m in feet & inches- 5’ 11”
Eye Colour	Brown
Hair Colour	Salt & Pepper
Career
Debut	Kannada Film: Sankalpa (1973) Hindi Film: Ankur (1974) (as Surya) English Film: Stumble (2003) Telugu Film: Raatri (1992) (as Shrink) Malayalam Film: Swathi Thirunal (1987) (as as Swathi Thirunal Rama Varma) TV: Malgudi Days (1987)
Awards, Honours, Achievements	• Won Best Actor for Naa Ninna Bidalaare in 1979 at Filmfare Awards South • Won Best Actor for Bara in 1982 at Filmfare Awards South • Won Best Actor for Hendthighelbedi in 1989 at Filmfare Awards South • Won Best Actor for Udbhava in 1990 at Filmfare Awards South • Won Best Actor for Gauri Ganesha in 1991 at Filmfare Awards South • Won Best Actor for Godhi Banna Sadharana Mykattu in 2016 at Filmfare Awards South • Won Best Actor for Minchina Ota in 1979-80 at Karnataka State Film Awards • Won Best Actor for Hosa Neeru in 1985-86 at Karnataka State Film Awards • Won Best Actor for Avasthe in 1987-88 at Karnataka State Film Awards • Won Best Actor for Gangavva Ganganayi in 1994-95 at Karnataka State Film Awards • Won Dr. Vishnuvardhan Lifetime Achievement Award at Karnataka State Film Awards in 2011-12
Politics
Political Party	Janatha Party
Political Journey	• Anant Nag was highly affected by the wars of 1962, 1965, and 1972. He actively participated in the Jayaprakash Narayan movement of 1974-75. He associated himself with the Janatha Party in the early 1980s. In an interview, he revealed, "I was influenced by socialist leader Jayaprakash Narayan who had urged the youth to join politics and said if we’d stayed away, it will only get murkier” • He strongly supported the reformist movement and hence became the star campaigner for the party in the successive elections of 1983, 1985, and 1989. • He was nominated as a member of the Karnataka Legislative Council (MLC) (1988-1994). • He became an elected Member of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly (1994-1999) after winning the assembly elections from Malleshwaram. • Later, he was appointed as the minister of State, attached to the Chief Minister (1996-1999). • In 2004, he contested the Karnataka assembly elections representing Janata Dal against S. M. Krishna from the Indian National Congress, fellow actor Mukhyamantri Chandru from the Bharatiya Janata Party in the Chamrajpet constituency in Bangalore. He faced defeat as S.M. Krishna won those elections.
Personal Life
Date of Birth	4 September 1948 (Saturday)
Age (as of 2024)	76 Years
Zodiac sign	Virgo
Nationality	Indian
Hometown	Shirali, Bhatkal taluk, Karnataka
School	New English School, Honnavar
Educational Qualification	Graduate [1]The Times of India
Religion	Hinduism [2]The Times of India
Caste/Ethnicity	Saraswat Brahmin [3]The Times of India
Food Habit	Vegetarian [4]Deccan Herald
Address	Aditi, 4th Cross, RMV Extension, Sanjaynagar, Bengaluru, Karnataka
Controversies	• During the takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban, there arose a discussion among the Indian actors on whether they support or despise the militant group. In an interview, Anant Nag said, "Those actors who don’t feel secure should go to heaven(with Taliban)” This enraged the activists, who later termed him and his opinions regressive. • Anant featured in Prashanth Neel‘s K.G.F: Chapter 1, which became a huge pan-India hit; however, during the promotions of K.G.F: Chapter 2, it was rumoured that Anant was replaced by Prakash Raj in the film. In an interview, Prashanth clarified that it was Anant who took the call and decided not to be a part of the film for his personal reasons.
Relationships & More
Marital Status	Married
Affairs/Girlfriends	Priya Tendulkar (rumored)
Marriage Date	9 April 1987
Family
Wife/Spouse	Gayatri
Children	Son- None Daughter- Aditi
Parents	Father- Sadananda Nagarakatti Mother- Anandi
Grandparents	Maternal Grandfather- Bantwal Sadashiva Bhat
Siblings	Brother- Shankar Nag (Indian actor, screenwriter, director, and producer) Sister- Shyamala
Favourites
Food	Thovve (a dal preparation), basale soppu (a form of green sambar), avalakki bath (poha) and jilebi
Book	Samagra Kathegalu’ by Bagalodi Devaraya. Graham Greene, R K Narayan
Place	Anand Ashrama in Kanchanagada, Kasarago

Some Lesser Known Facts About Anant Nag

• Anant Nag is a prolific Indian actor, who is known for his parallel performances in the Kannada cinema.

• Having spent most of his childhood in Shirali, Bhatkal taluk, Karnataka, he did his primary and middle schooling at a catholic school in Ajjarkad, Udupi, Ananda Ashrama in Dakshina Kannada, and Chitrapur Math in Uttara Kannada districts of the Mysore State (now Karnataka). He was good at academics and mostly stood in the first five top scorers of his class.

• He studied at New English School, Honnavar till the 8th standard after which he was sent to Mumbai by his father for further studies.

• Anant did not like the change when he relocated to Mumbai. He recounted his early life in Mumbai in an interview and said,
  

  I did short skits in school after which there was a gap. I felt lost in Bombay. I was hardly 11 when I was sent there. It was a culture shock having grown up in a mutt . I went into a shell because of the shift from Kannada to English medium. I failed in my 10th exams. I was miserable food and culture-wise. I wondered why my father had sent me to this ‘ naraka ’. I would sink into the shadows if I spotted someone familiar lest they ask me about my exam results. I strayed into acting. It was while distributing wedding cards for my sister’s wedding that someone suggested acting in a play because I was good looking. I gave it a shot.”

• He joined a commerce college in Bandra following which he worked in the Union Bank for three years by getting the job under the theatre quota.

• Anant was initially noticed by prominent theater personalities Prabhakar Mudur and Venkatrao Talageri.

• In his first performance, he played the part of a Hindu monk in the play Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, which was highly appreciated and loved by the audience.

• Eventually, he got offers for Konkani, Kannada, and Marathi-language plays, which he did until he turned 22.

• He became highly drawn to the theatre movement of Mumbai.

• He also collaborated with popular playwrights like K.K. Suvarna and Girish Karnad during his theatre days.

• He performed in various socially and politically relevant plays of Amol Palekar and Satyadev Dubey.

• Satyadev Dubey then sent him to meet filmmaker Shyam Benegal. In the early 1970s, the door of opportunities opened for him, and he got two film offers to act in P. V. Nanjaraja Urs’ Kannada film, ‘Sankalpa’ and in Shyam Benegal’s Hindi film ‘Ankur.’

• His Kannada debut film Sankalpa was released in 1973, and his Hindi debut film, Ankur, was released in 1974. In 1975, he appeared in two Kannada films and one Hindi film.

• He returned to Bangalore in 1976 after establishing himself as an actor.

• Initially, his father did not approve of his decision to become an actor. Speaking about the same in an interview, he said,
  

  I took to acting with a vengeance during my days in Bombay, much against the wishes of my father, who advised me to find my own means, to earn and learn to support my acting. He watched my film ‘Hamsgeethe’, where I had to shave my head. He was angry that I had gone against traditions and shaved my head clean, with not even a tuft of hair standing. As the years wore on, he reconciled with my profession as an actor.”

• In an interview, Anant expressed his situation of riding two boats at a time. He said,
  

  Satyadev Dubey sent me to meet Shyam Benegal. Shyam just asked me to turn this way and that before signing me. I was riding two boats: one in Bombay and the other in Bangalore. Meanwhile, I was called for a Tamil film much before Rajinikant went there. Tamil was an alien language for me being from coastal Karnataka. They offered me a princely sum for two films. Krishnan Panju was the director. I just couldn’t handle the language. After a few days, they wanted to shoot for the second film. For two successive days, it rained in Madras. I thought it was divine intervention. I wrote a note excusing myself and left.”

• Gradually, he went ahead to establish himself as a versatile actor. He has acted in more than 270 films in his career, which include his critically acclaimed performances in Godhi Banna Sadharana Mykattu (2016), Udbhava (1990), Hosa Neeru (1986), etc.

• Anant is multi-lingual with fluency in Kannada, Konkani, Marathi, Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam, and English languages, which added to his versatility in films.

• During the peak of his career, the audience loved his chemistry with popular South Indian actress Lakshmi, and their pair was considered one of the best couples of the Industry.

• According to Anant, he is an untrained actor. He always refrained from doing a dance number or an action sequence and preferred doing a natural and spontaneous scene, which is how he drifted away from the action and started doing comedy films. ^[5]The Hindu

• Anant believes that action films are far from reality. In an interview, he said,
  

  Imagine, I’m a cop with a gun and I’m fending off goons without using it. I argued with the stunt master that if I were in that situation I’d just draw and shoot.”

• Apart from theatre and films, Anant also did television. His television career began in 1987 with the television series – Malgudi Days, based upon the stories written by R.K. Narayan. Malgudi days was directed by Anant’s brother Shankar Nag. He also appeared in parallel roles in television shows including SwarjNama (1996), Garva (2002), and Preeti Illada Mele (2006-2008).

• Reportedly, after Anant’s mentor, Ramakrishna Hegde was expelled from the party, he continued his association with the Janatha Dal. It was rumored that this led to a rift between the two of them.

• Anant disclosed in an interview that he was advised to stop acting in films while he was serving as a minister. He said,
  

  As a minister in the 1990s, I stopped acting for three-and-a-half years. But I realised that I was an actor and politics was not my cup of tea,”

• According to Anant, it is easier to act as a politician than being one because the system,
  

  does not allow you to do what you want to.”

• In an interview, upon being asked the reason for quitting politics, Anant replied,
  

  I quit when I turned 50. There was excessive in-fighting and everything became about people and their egos. But I came away with a wealth of experiences.”

• Reportedly, Anaant wanted to join the armed forces; however, he could not get selected in the Army because he was underweight and was rejected from the Indian Airforce because of poor eyesight. ^[6]Deccan Chronicle

• In an interview, Anant disclosed that he believed that dance was not meant for men until he saw Kamal Haasan doing it.

• Anant can not stand cold temperature. As per media reports, he didn’t sign Vishwaroopam because it was going to be shot in the biting cold weather of New York City. In an interview, he expressed,
  

  Probably because I grew up in the coastal belt I cannot handle anything below 18 degrees. Even Bangalore was cold for me in the initial days. I just can’t function in cold weather. I’ve seen that when we went on holidays. My family would go out but I’d remain in the room swathed in thermals and layers of warm clothing. My nose and eyes start watering and I feel disoriented.”

• Anant Nag takes inspiration from Mahatama Gandhi. He even used to spin charkha daily for an hour like Bapu, during his days at Anand Ashram.

• In an interview, Anant got candid and revealed that he swears by a 45-minute nap in the afternoon every day. He said that he never misses his nap even when he is on set for shoot. He added that he can even sleep on a couch to take his 45-minute nap.