Anant Nagarkatte, better known by his screen name Anant Nag is a popular actor in the Kannada film industry. The veteran who has a reputation for his natural and underplaying style of acting, he has carved a niche for himself in Kannada cinema. The recipient of six Filmfare Awards South and Five Karnataka State Film Awards for Best Actor, Anant Nag apart from acting in Kannada cinema has also worked in Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu and Hindi films.

Having started his acting career as a theater artist, he got his first major break in the theater after he was noticed by prominent theater personalities Prabhakar Mudur and Venkatrao Talageri to participate in plays. His first role was that of a Hindu monk in the play Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, which became a hit and his role was much appreciated by the audience. He subsequently featured in many Konkani and Kannada-language plays and also collaborated with renowned playwrights like K.K. Suvarna and Girish Karnad. After having worked extensively in theater and establishing himself as a successful theater artist, Anant Nag later forayed in the film industry and made his acting debut in a feature film with the Kannada film Sankalpa (1973).

Renowned director Shyam Benegal introduced Anant Nag to Hindi cinema as he cast him in his directorial venture Ankur in 1974. Following his first collaboration with the director, Ananth Nat subsequently worked with him in several of his movies. Few of his most popular film credits include Anuroopa (1977), Naa Ninna Bidalaare (1979), Bhakta Prahlada (1983), Dashamukha (2012), Googly (2013), Athi Aparoopa (2014), Gajakessari (2014), Ananth (2015) and Mugulu Nage (2017), a Kannada romantic comedy directed by Yogaraj Bhat. His 2018 releases include Hottegagi Genu Battegagi, Sarkari Hi. Pra. Shaale, Kasaragodu, Koduge: Ramanna Rai and KGF. His other releases include Kavaludaari, Aayushmanbhava and India Vs England.