Arundhati Nag (née Rao; born 1955/1956) is an Indian actress. She has been involved with multilingual

Theatre in India Theatre of India is one of the most ancient forms of theatre and it features a detailed textual, sculptural, and dramatic effects which emerged in mid first millennium BC. Like in the areas of music and dance, the Indian theatre is also defin ...

, for over 25 years, first in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

where she got involved with

Indian People's Theatre Association Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA) is the oldest association of theatre-artists in India. IPTA was formed in 1943 during the British rule in India, and promoted themes related to the Indian freedom struggle. Its goal was to bring cultur ...

( IPTA), and did various productions in

Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub ...

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people *Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece See also * * ...

, and

Hindi theatre Hindi theatre is theatre performed in the Hindi language, including dialects such as Braj Bhasha, Khari Boli and Hindustani. Hindi theatre is produced mainly in North India, and some parts of West India and Central India, which include Mumbai and ...

, and then in

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 2 ...

and English, in

Bangalore Bangalore (), List of renamed places in India, officially Bengaluru (), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan area, metropolitan population of a ...

. They stayed in

Chintamani, Karnataka Chintamani is a Taluk Headquarters in the India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy ...

for a few years. Following her marriage to Kannada actor-director

Shankar Nag Shankar Nagarakatte (9 November 1954 – 30 September 1990) was an Indian actor, screenwriter, director, and producer known for his work in Kannada-language films and television. A popular cultural icon of Karnataka, Nag is often referred to as ...

(1980–1990), her association with theatre continued in Bangalore, where she performed several plays in Kannada: Girish Karnad's ''Anju Mallige'', ''27 Mavalli Circle'' based on the famous play ''Wait Until Dark'', ''Sandhya Chayya'' (Jayant Dalvi), Girish Karnad's ''Nagamandala'', and Bertolt Brecht's ''Mother Courage'' as ''Hulaguru Huliyavva''. She also worked in several Kannada movies: ''Accident'' (1984), ''Parameshi Prema Prasanga'' (1984) and ''Nodiswamy, Navirodu Heege'' (1987). Nag built a theatre space dedicated to quality theatre in Bangalore

Ranga Shankara ''Ranga Shankara'' is one of Bangalore's well known theatres. It is located in the south Bangalore area of J.P Nagar and is run by the Sanket Trust. The auditorium, which opened in 2004, was envisioned by Arundathi Nag, in remembrance of her la ...

: .Dream of a theatre
''

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...

'', 21 November 2004. She is a recipient of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (2008), the Padma Shri (2010) and the National Film Awards (57th) in 2010.

Career

Nag's career spans over 40 years of theatre, film and television. She is the founder and the Managing Trustee of the Sanket Trust, established in 1992, which runs Ranga Shankara, a theatre space in Bangalore.,. Ranga Shankara offers a quality theatre experience for theatre lovers in city. The annual

Theatre Festival, now in its twelfth year, has become a regular feature on Bangalore's cultural calendar. Nag continues to be actively involved in theatre: her most recent works include Girish Karnad's "Bikhre Bimb" (Hindi) and "Odakalu Bimba" (Kannada). Her last major movie was ''

The Man Who Knew Infinity ''The Man Who Knew Infinity'' is a 2015 British biographical drama film about the Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan, based on the 1991 book of the same name by Robert Kanigel. The film stars Dev Patel as Srinivasa Ramanujan, a real-life ...

'' (2016), in which she played the mother of the mathematical wizard Ramanujan. She has also appeared in Hindi movies including ''Paa'' (2009), "Sapnay" (1997) and "Dil Se" (1998), Kannada movies including ''Golibar'' (1991), '' Jogi'' (2005) and "Andar Bahar", and Malayalam ''

Da Thadiya ''Da Thadiya'' ( ml, ടാ തടിയാ, ''Hey Fatso'') is a 2012 Malayalam romantic comedy film directed by Aashiq Abu, and starring Sekhar Menon in the lead role along with Nivin Pauly, Sreenath Bhasi and Ann Augustine in the supporting ro ...

'' (2012) and

Drama (2018 film) ''Drama'' is a 2018 Indian Malayalam-language comedy drama film written and directed by Ranjith. The cast was led by Mohanlal, Arundathi Nag, and Asha Sharath, while Kaniha, Shyamaprasad, Subi Suresh, Suresh Krishna, Tini Tom, Niranj S., Johny ...

Personal life

Nag was born in 1956 in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...

, stayed in Netaji Nagar. Her family moved to

when she was 10. At 17, she met

, also a theatre artist. Six years later, the two got married and moved to

. Shankar became a well-known film actor, and later a director, most remembered for his TV adaptation of R. K. Narayan's '' Malgudi Days'' (1987). They had a daughter together, Kaavya. In 1990, Shankar died in a car accident. Arundhati continued to act in theatre, and began to work towards realising her dream of a theatre space, which in 2004, finally materialised into

, which is today one of India's premier venues for theatre.

Filmography

Actor

Assistant director

* ''

A Passage to India ''A Passage to India'' is a 1924 novel by English author E. M. Forster set against the backdrop of the British Raj and the Indian independence movement in the 1920s. It was selected as one of the 100 great works of 20th century English liter ...

'' (1984) * ''

Indian Summer An Indian summer is a period of unseasonably warm, dry weather that sometimes occurs in autumn in temperate regions of the northern hemisphere. Several sources describe a true Indian summer as not occurring until after the first frost, or more s ...

'' (1987)

Awards

* 1985: Won:

Karnataka State Film Award for Best Supporting Actress Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

– ''

Accident An accident is an unintended, normally unwanted event that was not directly caused by humans. The term ''accident'' implies that nobody should be blamed, but the event may have been caused by unrecognized or unaddressed risks. Most researche ...

'' * 2005: Won:

– '' Jogi'' * 2006: Awarded:

Karnataka Rajyotsava Award The Rajyotsava Prashasti or Rajyotsava Awards, the second highest civilian honor of the Karnataka state of India are conferred annually by the Government of Karnataka, Karnataka Government on the occasion of the establishment of the state on 1 ...

* 2006: Won: Citizen Extraordinaire' from the Rotary Club Bangalore * 2008: Won: Sangeet Natak Akademi Award – Theatre, Acting * 2009: Won: 57th

National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress The National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress is an honour presented annually at India's National Film Awards ceremony by the Directorate of Film Festivals (DFF), an organisation set up by the Indian Ministry of Information and Broadcast ...

– '' Paa'' * 2010: Awarded:

Padma Shri Award Padma Shri ( IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conferr ...

* 2010: Nominated:

Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress The Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress is given by ''Filmfare'' as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films, to recognise a female actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a supporting role. Although the Filmfare ...

– '' Paa'' * 2010: Won: Star Cine Award for Best Supporting Actress – '' Paa'' * 2010: Conferred A Doctorate: for services rendered to the world of theatre, by Bijapur Women's University, Bijapur

References

External links

*
Arundhati Nag: Life is beautiful – Interview
''

Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest se ...

''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nag, Arundhati Actresses from Bangalore Actresses in Kannada cinema Actresses in Tamil cinema Indian film actresses Indian stage actresses Indian television actresses Indian theatre directors Living people Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts Best Supporting Actress National Film Award winners Screen Awards winners 1956 births Indian women theatre directors 20th-century Indian actresses 21st-century Indian actresses Actresses from Delhi Actresses in Marathi theatre Actresses in Malayalam theatre Actresses in Kannada theatre Actresses in Telugu theatre Actresses in Malayalam cinema Indian women film directors 20th-century Indian film directors Film directors from Bangalore Recipients of the Rajyotsava Award 2006