Mention Anant Nag to almost anyone in Karnataka and the reaction is immediate: ‘Anant? Oh my God! What a fascinating man!’ ‘Such an intellectual. Such a great speaker. Brilliant actor.’
IMAGE: Anant Nag in KGF.
Key Points
- Anant Nag is celebrated for his natural acting style, exceptional comic timing, and ability to inhabit characters, making him a unique and respected figure in Indian cinema.
- Beyond his acting career, Anant Nag also had a significant stint in politics, serving as an MLA and a passionate member of the Janata Party and later as a BJP candidate.
Melting but sharp brown eyes. That is the first thing I noticed about Anant Nag.
Before I knew it, I had the biggest crush on this charming man with a razor-sharp mind.
So I was delighted to hear that Anant has been chosen for the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for 2024. Long overdue. And to my mind, thoroughly deserved. The award will be presented at the National Film Awards ceremony in Kevadia, Gujurat, on September 22.
Because Anant is one of the finest actors of the era he has spanned. Even now, there is nobody quite like him.
A Memorable Encounter
IMAGE: Shivaraj Kumar and Anant Nag in Aayushmanbhava.
A million snapshots of my interactions with this gorgeous man, whose wife Gayatri, a Punjabi, has also been a dear friend for years, crowd my mind.
Like the time I was interviewing him on the set of a film starring Shivaraj Kumar.
The crew took a short break. Anant was seated at a dining table, which was where the scene was to resume. He pulled a copy of TIME magazine out of his bag and began reading it with characteristic absorption.
I walked up hesitantly.
He looked up, smiled and quickly asked me to sit down and begin my interview.
I was interviewing him about politics, as I remember. You may remember that Anant was an MLA for a while, and a passionate member of the Janata Party. But more about that later.
We got into such an intense discussion that I forgot everything around me. My tape recorder sat on the table between us, and I never looked away from those sharp brown eyes.
Suddenly, I became aware that the place around us seemed very bright.
I looked up.
Shooting lights were focused on us.
I looked to my left. Shivaraj Kumar was sitting quietly beside me. The heroine was diagonally opposite.
The cast and crew had all reassembled. I am sure they must have done so quite noisily.
But neither Anant nor I had noticed.
That was how completely immersed we had become in our discussion.
I jumped up in embarrassment, mumbled apologies to everyone and walked away. As I passed the cameraman, he said something like, ‘How could you delay us like this?’
Why had nobody interrupted us?
Simple. Anant was a much-respected person. Also, let’s be honest, a slightly short-tempered one. He was perfectly capable of saying, ‘How dare you interrupt us? Now you will just have to wait till we finish!’
His snappy remarks were great fun because they were never mean or intended to put anyone down. And they usually seemed so perfectly justified that you simply laughed with him.
Campaign Trails
IMAGE: Anant Nag in Gajakesari.
Like the time I accompanied him on a campaign trail in South Bangalore, when he was a BJP candidate for the assembly elections.
Anant said he would pick me up. I told him I would bring along my little daughter, Amala, so she could get some exposure to the world of politics that I was always covering.
I felt comfortable doing this because Anant had known me as a journalist from my earliest days. I had first met him when I wrote about Sanket, the theatre troupe he ran with his brother Shankar Nag.
In fact, Gayatri’s caterer cooked for my low key wedding with Dasarathi, five years before Amala was born.
Amala and I were waiting at the gate when an auto drew up.
Anant leaned out.
‘Jump in. This is the best way to go. We won’t get parking easily where we are going.’
We hopped into the auto.
We went to a temple, where we began the day’s campaigning, as was customary, and covered quite some ground before breaking for breakfast. The number of supporters walking with us was quite small.
While we were eating, Anant’s cellphone rang.
Someone, who seemed to be leading a large group of supporters, called and asked Anant where we were and whether he had started out from home.
A rightly annoyed Anant snapped: ‘No, I am still chilling in my grandmother’s house!’
That was Anant.
But when I think of him, I actually think most of the young boy who used to walk long distances and cross a river by boat to go to school.
His father was the administrator of a mutt in Dakshina Kannada, and Anant, his sister and brother lived an extremely simple and frugal life there.
Anant was eventually sent to Bombay for further education because schooling where he lived was very basic. His toddler brother Shankar was sent along with him while his sister stayed home.
I still remember Anant telling me about living with relatives and not wanting to bother them to pack lunch for him. So he would buy peanuts from a street vendor outside his school for lunch.
Perhaps those early experiences explain something of the austerity and simplicity that remained part of the man he became.
They certainly did not dull his appetite for ideas.
Anant read voraciously and had strong political views. Those views eventually drew him into politics. Then Karnataka chief minister Ramakrishna Hegde noticed him and made him a candidate for his party. Anant won his first election with ease and somehow managed to sustain a film career even while working as an MLA.
The Actor And The Man
IMAGE: Aindrita Ray and Anant Nag in Thimayya And Thimayya.
And then there was the actor.
I never missed an Anant Nag movie, long before I knew the man.
He acted so naturally and brought such humour, romance and sheer excitement to the roles he played. His comic timing was excellent. He played so many humorous hero roles that had all of us laughing.
And then there were the romantic roles.
Girls swooned.
Some of the songs he acted in remain evergreen classics. I can’t exactly say he danced in them; the films he acted in were, after all, story-driven films.
Perhaps that is what made Anant Nag so special. He never seemed to be performing at you. He simply inhabited the character.
Off screen too, he has lived a remarkably quiet life. His home and family, Gayatri and daughter Aditi, have largely remained away from the limelight.
Yet, mention Anant Nag to almost anyone in Karnataka and the reaction is immediate: ‘Anant? Oh my God! What a fascinating man!’
‘Such an intellectual. Such a great speaker. Brilliant actor.’
And, if you have met him, you will probably add one more thing: ‘Such a personable, sweet man.’
I would add: Those eyes.
Those melting, impossibly sharp brown eyes.
And yes, I still have a bit of a crush.
M D Riti was a senior journalist with Rediff before she traded news deadlines for event deadlines. She now runs RMG Mileage, a corporate team-outing and leadership company, and Mileage Global, a corporate events business. Old habits die hard. She still likes chasing a good story — and interesting people.
Photographs curated by Manisha Koirala/Rediff
