‘Nepotism, Favouritism Were There’: Anant Nag On Dadasaheb Phalke Award Selection Says PM Modi Changed System - ABP Live English

Veteran Kannada actor Anant Nag, selected for the 2024 Dadasaheb Phalke Award on Wednesday, said "nepotism" and "favouritism" had influenced award selection, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi changed the system by seeking public participation.

Nag said he was grateful to Modi for announcing the award and dedicated the honour to the people of Karnataka.

Nag said some people belonged to a special category and received awards through favouritism.

"Otherwise, it was a very special category, you know; it was given nepotism and favouritism, and everything was there in this award-giving, as well. But Modi changed it," Nag told PTI Videos.

He said Modi had sought public recommendations for the Padma Awards, prompting Kannadigas to recommend his name.

"Modi was the only person who asked people to please recommend the name they had in their mind. That was the first time he brought it out into the public," he said.

Nag said he had not anticipated receiving the Dadasaheb Phalke Award and was still coming to terms with the honour.

"Well, I didn't anticipate that I would be given this Phalke Award, as such. So, I'm trying to come to terms with it," he said.

"I would dedicate it to the people of Karnataka, and then thank Mr Modi, our dear Prime Minister, for this—because he tweeted it and announced this particular award. So I'm grateful to him, and grateful to this country which has provided me this opportunity," he added.

VIDEO | Bengaluru: Veteran Kannada actor Anant Nag has been selected as the recipient of the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, India's highest recognition for contribution to cinema. Speaking to PTI, he says, "Well, I didn't anticipate that I would be given this award... So, I'm trying… pic.twitter.com/62iwhPmtkk

Nag, who has completed 50 years as an actor, said he had never expected awards but valued the support of people who admired his work. "I've never been in that culture of expecting an award. Reward, yes, anytime. But an award, I was not told," he said.

The actor said he did not have fan associations but acknowledged the people who had supported his career.

"I wouldn't say they are my fans, because I don't have fan associations and all. But I have people who admire my work and who have blessed me, supported me in my 50-year career as an actor," he said.

Asked about his advice for youngsters entering the film industry, Nag said they needed to work hard and please the audience.

"They have to work hard, yes. If you want to be successful in cinema, in entertainment, you have to work very hard and then please the audience," he said.

Nag said he was reluctant to travel and was yet to confirm whether he would attend the award ceremony.

"If I'm asked to, then I cannot say no. When they've conferred such a big award on me, then I should go to it and take it," he said.

Nag said the recognition was an opportunity to celebrate India's diverse film industries and the country's love for cinema across languages.

"This country has so many languages, and so many films are made in. And everybody—the other day I was reading a newspaper, it just said that people from abroad, they come and—the kind of craze for cinema which is there in India, in all languages, in all states, is not there anywhere else in the world, not even in Hollywood," he said.

Nag has acted in more than 270 films, mainly in Kannada and a few in Hindi, during his five-decade career in the film industry.

The 78-year-old is also a renowned theatre personality.

Nag grew up in a religious family in Bhatkal in coastal Karnataka and was sent to Mumbai for higher education. His early exposure to literature and storytelling shaped his interest in the arts. While in Mumbai, he gradually became drawn to the city's theatre movement.

Nag acted in Konkani, Hindi and Marathi plays for about five years, during which he came under the influence of theatre personalities such as Satyadev Dubey, Girish Karnad and Amol Palekar.

He made his cinema debut with the 1973 Kannada film 'Sankalpa' and gradually became an integral part of the parallel cinema movement in the 1970s and 1980s.

He was part of the popular Doordarshan serial 'Malgudi Days', the television adaptation of R K Narayan's works, which was directed by his filmmaker brother Shankar Nag.

Anant Nag, who served as a Bengaluru Development Minister in Karnataka's J H Patel government, has spoken about being influenced by the JP movement at its peak. In 2004, he unsuccessfully contested the Chamarajpet Assembly constituency in Bengaluru on a Janata Dal (Secular) ticket.

'Bayalu Daari', 'Na Ninna Bidalaare', 'Gauri Ganesha', 'Godhi Banna Sadharana Mykattu' and 'KGF Chapter-1' are among his prominent Kannada films.

He played key roles in Hindi parallel cinema films such as 'Ankur', 'Nishant', 'Manthan', 'Bhumika', 'Kondura', 'Kalyug' and 'Gehrayee'.

He will be conferred the award at the National Film Awards ceremony in Kevadia, Gujarat, on September 22.

The previous recipient of the Dadasaheb Phalke Award was Malayalam superstar Mohanlal. The award being announced for 2024 is part of the delayed schedule of the National Film Awards.

Instituted in 1969, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award honours the contribution of Dhundiraj Govind Phalke, widely regarded as the father of Indian cinema, who directed the country's first full-length feature film, 'Raja Harishchandra', in 1913. 

(Disclaimer: This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)

Anant Nag was selected for the 2024 Dadasaheb Phalke Award. This prestigious honor recognizes contributions to Indian cinema.

He didn't anticipate receiving the award and is still coming to terms with it. He dedicated the honor to the people of Karnataka and thanked Prime Minister Modi.

Anant Nag stated that previous award selections were influenced by nepotism and favouritism. He credited PM Modi for changing the system by seeking public participation and recommendations.

Anant Nag has completed 50 years as an actor. Over his five-decade career, he has acted in more than 270 films, predominantly in Kannada.

The Dadasaheb Phalke Award will be conferred upon Anant Nag at the National Film Awards ceremony. This event is scheduled to take place on September 22 in Kevadia, Gujarat.

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