Anant Nag sir will always be an integral part of KGF: Yash and Prashant Neel address his absence in KGF-Chapter 2

When news of actor Prakash Raj’s inclusion on the cast of KGF: Chapter 2 came out, there were also rumours of veteran actor Anant Nag’s exclusion, which gained traction when images of the former appeared as the narrator of the tale, a role earlier done by the latter. Throughout the making of the film, the entire team of KGF: Chapter 2 has maintained a dignified silence on the issue.

Of course, when the promotional tour of KGF: Chapter 2 began, Anant Nag was a topic that came up quite often, yet both Yash and Prashant Neel refused to be drawn into it, stating only that Anant Nag will always an integral part of KGF. In fact, Yash said that before jumping to conclusions about the veteran actor’s replacement, people should first watch the film and see how the story has evolved. Stating that the whole team has nothing but immense respect for Anant, Yash and Prashant maintained that the former was not part of KGF: Chapter 2 for personal reasons, which are best addressed by him and that they would not get into the details of it. In fact, Anant Nag had even attended the KGF: Chapter 1 success meet in January 2019 and spoken at length about the film. 

In KGF: Chapter 1, Anant played Anand Ingalagi, a journalist whose book El Dorado, which detailed the rise of gangster Rocky in KGF, was banned by the Indian government, with every copy presumed to have been destroyed. But when a news channel gets its hands on a partially-burnt copy, Anand is summoned to fill in the blanks and help the team understand why the book was banned. Much of the story is narrated by Anant’s character.

In KGF: Chapter 2, Prakash plays Vijayendra Ingalagi, presumably a relative of Anand, who takes on the duty of narrating the story of Narachi and KGF. Produced by Hombale Films, KGF: Chapter 2 is set to release in theatres on April 14. The film also stars Sanjay Dutt, Raveena Tandon, Srinidhi Shetty, BS Avinash, Malavika Avinash, Tarak Ponnappa, Vasishta N Simha, John Kokken, Rao Ramesh, among others. Incidentally, Prakash is the only cast member of KGF: Chapter 2 who has dubbed for himself in all five versions of the film, followed by Rao Ramesh, who dubbed in four languages.