Anant Nag Receives the Dadasaheb Phalke Award

Anant Nag, the Kannada actor with more than 300 films behind him, received the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for 2024 at the National Film Awards ceremony in Kevadia, Gujarat, on Sept. 22. The government announced his name on Sept. 16. It is India's highest honour in cinema.

The announcement

The Press Information Bureau said the award was recommended by the Dadasaheb Phalke Award Selection Committee, for his contribution to Indian cinema and a cinematic journey that has inspired generations. According to Wikipedia's page on the 72nd National Film Awards, the selection committee was Mithun Chakraborty, Paresh Rawal and Ashutosh Gowariker. The same page lists the prize as a Swarna Kamal, a medallion, a shawl and a cash prize of Rs 10 lakh. A Gazette notification cited by a search summary lists Rs 15 lakh, and we have not been able to reconcile the two figures.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated him, saying, in the Indian Express's quotation, that for several decades his effortless performances, versatility and brilliance have left a strong mark on Indian cinema, particularly Kannada cinema. The Times of India reported that at the ceremony Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw told him, "You have rendered great service to the film industry," and that he received a standing ovation.

The career

The Indian Express says Anant Nag has appeared in more than 300 films over five decades, with more than 200 in Kannada and the rest in Hindi, Telugu, Marathi, Malayalam and English. Wikipedia puts the Kannada count at more than 250. The two figures differ and both are given as approximate.

He made his feature debut in Sankalpa in 1973, according to Wikipedia, and moved into parallel cinema with Shyam Benegal's Ankur in 1974. The Indian Express lists his Kannada hits, among them Bayalu Daari, Kanneshwara Rama, Naa Ninna Bidalaare, Chandanada Gombe, Benkiya Bale, Hendthige Helbedi, Ganeshana Maduve, Gowri Ganesha and Mungaru Male. It also lists K.G.F: Chapter 1 and Chapter 2, and notes his most recent release, Rajadrohi, in 2025.

Television made him known across the country. The Indian Express says he rose to nationwide fame in the Doordarshan series Malgudi Days, based on R. K. Narayan's stories.

The honours so far

The Indian Express lists four Karnataka State Film Awards for Best Actor, for Minchina Ota (1980), Hosa Neeru (1986), Avasthe (1987) and Gangavva Gangamaayi (1994), plus the Dr Vishnuvardhan Award in 2011. It says he received the Padma Bhushan in 2025. Wikipedia adds six Filmfare Awards South and says he is the elder brother of the director and actor Shankar Nag.

Why it matters

The Phalke Award has gone to a wide range of film personalities, and this year it goes to an actor who built his career mainly in Kannada cinema, in a year when Kannada films are in the news for other reasons. The Moneycontrol report on Oct. 16 notes that Kannada films, including the sleeper hit Premada Oorali, are part of South Indian cinema's Rs 4,198.41 crore haul at the Indian box office this year.

What we could not confirm

We could not reconcile the cash prize, which is Rs 10 lakh on Wikipedia and Rs 15 lakh in a Gazette notification we saw only through a search summary. We could not reconcile the number of Kannada films either. We did not find his own statement on receiving the award. We read the Indian Express in full and the Times of India through a search summary.

Sources

*Cover photo: President's Secretariat, Wikimedia Commons, *[*https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dadasaheb_Phalke_Awardee_Anant_Nag.jpg*](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dadasaheb_Phalke_Awardee_Anant_Nag.jpg)* (GODL-India).*