Whenever there is a debate on India’s greatest actors, his name pops among the many legends in the field. Even actors like Kamal Hassan are fans of his natural acting.
With more than four decades, mainly as an actor — Anant Nag, one of the finest in the film industry celebrated his birthday on Sunday. An important pillar of Sandalwood, he is in the august company of icons like Dr Rajkumar, Vishnuvardhan, Ambareesh, etc.
Anant Nag naturally features in all lists thanks to his unique work. A legend by himself, he is a proud elder brother to another legendary actor, film maker and theatre personality — the late Shankar Nag. Bengaluru Chronicle reports on his recent roles “fathering” versatility and characters.
As Venkob Rao
With more than 200 films to his credit, Anant Nag, who evolved from lead to supporting roles smoothly, has been one of the main highlights in the recent times. One of his recent roles as Venkob Rao in Godhi Banna Sadharana Mykattu was excellence personified. With the success of the film and the response it has garnered for the veteran, the actor himself is elated, expressing a great deed of satisfaction after a long time. He played the role of a common man suffering from Alzheimer’s. The sequence between the father and son was memorable, and a treat for his style of films, which is a rare phenomena for senior actors like him.
...Re
...Re reunited the legend with his favourite director Sunil Kumar Desai who gave us films like Beladingala Bale, for which the veteran is still remembered for his evergreen character Revanth, playing the role of a chess player. Though ...Re failed at the box office, it was Anant Nag who shined with his trademark natural acting ability.
The plus and the minus
When Plus was announced, and later the makeover of Anant Nag was released, it immediately caught the attention of fans as he was essaying a role in two different shades. When it bombed at the box office, it was none other than the veteran who openly apologised to his fans, saying that though the script seemed perfect and thoroughly engaging, it failed in its final output.
The cameos
First Rank Raju was one of the biggest hits and though Anant Nag played a cameo role as an entrepreneur, it was very well-received by the audience. His character talked about the positive aspects in life and challenged youth to face it with sensitivity. In Aatagara, he played a cameo as a retired judge seeking revenge from a group of people stuck in a deserted place, in the garb of a reality game show. Then came Kabira, where the actor was a guruji who shows the right path to Saint Kabira. In many such roles, the veteran has been great support, showing his acting prowess while shouldering the responsibility with intensity and brilliance.
