50 years of Anant Nag: I have never knocked on doors looking for work

Circa 1967. Anant Nag, 19, who was forced to live in Mumbai, entered the theatre scene there. On day 1, he realised that through acting he could enter a magic bubble where he could forget about his life for a while and become somebody else. At 74, with an acting career spanning five decades, he tells us that the one thing he is thankful for is that, “I have never knocked on the doors of filmmakers looking for work. Work has always come to me. I cannot believe it’s been over 50 years already. Come to think of it, almost all the actors and technicians who worked with me are not even alive anymore.” Excerpts from a conversation:

‘Life in the Ashram prepared me for life’
Growing up, I had no aspirations at all! I was taught that everything is predestined. I just learned to go with the flow, which is what I have been doing from the past 75 years. In the ashram I was taught ‘Karmanye Vadhikaraste, Ma phaleshou kada chana’, (a verse from Bhagwad Geetha), which translates to ‘You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of action. Never consider yourself to be the cause of the results of your activities, and never be attached to not doing your duty’. I have lived by this golden rule, which I believe is what has helped me stay strong in the industry despite all the ups and downs.

‘OTTs are no match for theatrical experience’
Back in the day, when TVs entered homes, many thought that was the end of theatres. But, theatres survived and so did filmmakers. Same applies to OTTs as well. They are no match to theatrical experience of a film. With some great content and script, films of late, have been about delivering experience to audience.

‘I don’t watch films, not even my own’
I do not watch films at all. Not even my own. I cannot and shouldn’t be the judge of my own work. I get my validation from the audience and that’s all I ever need. Having lived through a character for months, I don’t see any necessity to revisit it again by watching a film.

‘Never became a part of rat race’
I started my career with Sankalpa in 1973 and up until commercial caper, Bayaludari, in 1976, my films were mostly parallel or art cinema. Working in commercial cinema made me realise that parallel cinema has no money. So, I learned to strike a balance between the two. People started noticing me more once I started acting in commercial films. I was never a part of any rat race to feel the competition or insecurity per se. However, when we did not have any work - say our film had tanked at the box office - I would get a bunch of people from my previous films, and kick start a film by borrowing money from friends. There are so many films that took off like this and found a producer midway. If I had not taken that plunge, many of those films, including would not even have been made.
‘I don’t think there is anyone who reads the film scripts as many times as I do’
I read the entire script and not just my role. When it comes to picking films, even if it’s a small role, if I feel that I have a meatier, interesting role, only then I take it up. Mediocrity doesn’t impress me. Over the years I have learnt that an actor should be like water, only then he or she can fit into skin of different characters and stories. Acting is mostly reacting and you cannot fake in a close-up shot. You have to personally feel what the character is going through. If you can deliver that, it means you have won as an actor. May be that’s why even today scripts are written for me.