Exclusive! Anant Nag heads to Udupi to begin Abracadabra

The veteran actor will spend his birthday tomorrow in temple visits and then head to the set of the film,

Anant Nag

It took veteran actor Anant Nag a while to resume shooting in the new normal. At 73, he was advised by doctors and his wife to cool his heels a while longer. “I must have stepped out maybe six or seven times, at the most, in a year. In hindsight, I think it was good that we built a fairly big house, so there was ample space for me to move about,” laughs the actor, adding, “I started work only in August. There were two earlier commitments that needed to be completed, one was Gaalipata 2, and the other was Made in Bengaluru. I also did a brief role in the Kannada remake of the Malayalam film Drishyam 2, called Drishya 2,” says Anant.

The actor adds that he has okayed a few other projects. “Honestly, the way the pandemic has been, I thought I was going into retirement, he says, jocularly, adding, “I used the break from work to figure out what I want to do next. I am looking at taking up only those roles that offer me something new to do. There have been good offers from Telugu and even Hindi films, but I decided to take up Kannada projects instead, because they seemed promising as far as content is concerned. Right now, I have at least four new projects, including a biopic that will be announced shortly, which will start in the coming months. I may consider work in other languages after that.”

In fact, Anant will start work on his next, Abracadabra on September 5, for which he is in Udupi currently. “I will have darshan of Lord Krishna on September 4, which is my birthday, and then start work. I have a deep connect with the city, having spent a few years there in my childhood. In fact, my brother, the late Shankar Nag was born in Udupi,” he says.

Abracadabra is a film based on magic directed by debutant Shishir, and produced by actor Rakshit Shetty. “A lot of newcomers have great ideas that can be executed well, on a much smaller scale than a film with a star. Most of my upcoming films belong to that category. They also have the option of taking the film only to multiplexes or OTT platforms,” he says.

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