He has played a range of characters in his nearly five-decade-long filmi career. And in
Hottegagi Genu Battegagi
, which releases this week,
Anant Nag plays a character with whom he shares a lot in common. For
Shyam Prasad
— Anant’s character in the film — is a man with old-world beliefs, just like Anant.
This has us intrigued. Tell us more about your character…Shyam Prasad is a retired man, who is forced to take up a job. He finds himself working with a host of youngsters and feels out of place in their world. He is not tech-savvy and is out of step with all things modern, except mobile phones. He doesn’t know how to operate a computer or tablets, and has to begin with the basics at the job. He’s a lot like me in that aspect.
How so?I use a mobile phone and know how to surf for information online. But I am not on social media. I don’t even book cabs or order food through apps — my daughter does that for me. I have not kept myself updated when it comes to technology. There are times, like with the recent elections, when I felt like giving my views, but I don’t feel like that often. There is a lot of information online, but seldom any knowledge. Most of the time, it’s just gossip. I am about to turn 70 and my interests have changed with time. If I am ever using the internet, it is to look at historical information. But I am looking forward to going live on
Bangalore Times
’ social media pages later today.
As are we! Another aspect of Shyam is that he is chivalrous, just like you…Our world was like that. We showed chivalry, which is something that is completely missing these days. Women feel that it is not required now. But I have, and continue to, open doors for women and still believe in ‘ladies first’.
What else drew you to the film?Director
Narendra Babu has chosen a multi-layered subject. It talks about career-oriented women, issues faced by people who work in the private and public sectors, how a failed marriage affects kids, old-school ideas of marriage and the sense of loyalty, live-in relationships, the desire (or lack of) to have children, abortion, clash of values between the older and current generations, and more. All these automatically come into the film and at no point is it preachy.
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