Veteran Kannada actor Anant Nag was honoured with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for 2024, India’s highest cinema honour, at the 72nd National Film Awards ceremony held in Ekta Nagar, Kevadia, Gujarat, on Tuesday. President Droupadi Murmu presented the award, which marks the culmination of a screen career spanning more than five decades.
This year’s ceremony was notable for another reason: it is the first time the National Film Awards have been held outside New Delhi, as part of a Ministry of Information and Broadcasting initiative to take the event to different parts of the country. The venue, against the backdrop of Kevadia’s 182-metre Statue of Unity — the world’s tallest statue, dedicated to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in October 2018 — was chosen to mark what officials described as “the beginning of a new journey” for the awards.
Instituted in 1954, the National Film Awards recognise excellence across feature films, non-feature films and writing on cinema, spanning India’s many languages and regions. The Dadasaheb Phalke Award, first presented in 1969 to commemorate filmmaker Dadasaheb Phalke — regarded as the father of Indian cinema — is bestowed for “outstanding contribution to the growth and development of Indian cinema.” It carries a Swarna Kamal (Golden Lotus) medallion, a shawl, and a cash prize of ₹15 lakh.
Born on September 4, 1948, in Shirali in present-day Uttara Kannada district, Nag began his acting career in Kannada and Konkani theatre in Mumbai, working under directors including Satyadev Dubey, Girish Karnad and Amol Palekar. He made his feature film debut with Sankalpa in 1973, a film that went on to win seven state awards in Karnataka.
Nag subsequently emerged as a central figure in filmmaker Shyam Benegal’s parallel cinema movement, appearing in a string of acclaimed films including Ankur (1974), Nishant (1975), Manthan (1976), Bhumika (1977), Kondura (1978) and Kalyug (1981). He later became familiar to television audiences across the Hindi heartland through Malgudi Days, the celebrated adaptation directed by his younger brother, filmmaker Shankar Nag. His sister-in-law is actor Arundathi Nag.
Beyond his acting career, Nag also had a stint in Karnataka politics, serving as a Member of the Karnataka Legislative Council from 1988 to 1994 and later as a Member of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly from 1994 to 1999, during which he also held the position of Minister for Bangalore Development.
Congratulating Nag on social media platform X, Prime Minister Modi wrote: “For several decades, his effortless performances, remarkable versatility and brilliance have left a very strong mark on Indian cinema, particularly Kannada cinema. In whichever role he has played, he brought rare depth and authenticity. This is indeed a richly deserved honour for a truly distinguished artist.”
Nag joins a distinguished list of past Dadasaheb Phalke Award recipients that includes filmmakers Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen and Shyam Benegal, and actors Amitabh Bachchan, Dilip Kumar, Waheeda Rehman, Rajinikanth and Mohanlal. He was also conferred the Padma Bhushan, India’s third-highest civilian award, in 2025.
