Anant Nag dedicates his Phalke Award to Karnataka

Veteran actor Anant Nag has dedicated his 2024 Dadasaheb Phalke Award to the people of Karnataka, crediting the state’s filmmakers, audiences, and cultural environment for shaping his five-decade-long career in cinema.

The Union government announced on September 16th that Anant Nag would be the recipient of this prestigious honour for his contribution to Indian cinema. The award will be presented at the 72nd National Film Awards ceremony on September 22nd in Kevadia, Gujarat.

Speaking about the honour, Anant Nag said he could not have built the career he did anywhere else in India. “All this was possible because of Karnataka and Karnataka only”, he stated, as he reflected on the opportunities that the state offered him to work in both art films and commercial films.

Anant, born in Shirali in Karnataka in 1948, moved to Bombay at the age of 12. He began his artistic journey in theatre and spent around five years performing in nearly fifty plays, while also writing and directing some productions. He later entered cinema by making his debut in 1973 in P. V. Nanjaraja Urs’s “Sankalpa”.

The actor said Karnataka stood apart because of its audience and its appreciation for different kinds of cinema; he recalled finding an audience for art films and also “sober commercial” cinema, allowing him to explore a range of roles and projects. He also credited the state’s producers, directors, actors and audience for creating and nurturing an environment that supported his stellar career.

He also expressed his gratitude to the people he worked with throughout his career, including his theatre mentors, directors, producers and co-stars. For him, audience response remains the most important form of recognition.

The Dadasaheb Phalke Award will add to a long list of honours for the actor, who was also awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2025.