Anant Nag

Anant Nagarkatte (born 4 September 1948), popularly known as Anant Nag, is an Indian actor whose predominant contribution has been in Kannada cinema. He has acted in over 300 films which include over 250 Kannada films and few films in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Marathi, Malayalam and English languages. He has featured in theatre plays, parallel cinema and television shows. He was honoured with Dadasaheb Phalke Award for his contribution to cinema for the year 2024. Nag made his feature film debut through Sankalpa (1973) directed by Prof. P.V Nanjaraj Urs. Sankalpa went on to win seven state awards in Karnataka. His foray into parallel cinema was through Shyam Benegal's Ankur (1974). His commercially successful Kannada films have been Bayalu Daari (1976), Kanneshwara Rama (1977), Naa Ninna Bidalaare (1979), Chandanada Gombe (1979), Benkiya Bale (1983), Hendthige Helbedi (1989), Ganeshana Maduve (1990), Gowri Ganesha (1991), Mungaru Male (2006), Godhi Banna Sadharana Mykattu (2016), Raajakumara (2017), Sarkari Hi. Pra. Shaale, Kasaragodu, Koduge: Ramanna Rai (2018), K.G.F: Chapter 1 (2018), Aduva Gombe(2019), K.G.F: Chapter 2 (2022) and Gaalipata 2 (2022). He acted in Malgudi Days, a Doordarshan aired television series based on the stories of R. K. Narayan. He is a recipient of six Filmfare Awards South and five Karnataka State Film Awards. He is the elder brother of director and actor Shankar Nag. Anant was awarded the Padma Bhushan, India's third highest civilian award, in 2025 by the Government of India.