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Shankar Nag: Some Unknown Facts
It is the 60th birth anniversary of iconic Actor/Director Shankar Nag. Born on November 9, 1954, Shankar Nag left a mark in the Kannada film industry before dying tragically in a road accident on September 30th 1990. Even after 25 years of his death, the actor is remembered for his memorable movies.
His blockbuster movie Auto Raja made him the favorite among the masses. Specially the auto drivers around the state still have his poster on their vehicle. Such is his popularity among the auto drivers, that almost all his fan clubs are run by them. However, Shankar Nag wasn't just popular among the auto drivers. His popularity was spread across all sections of the society.
What really made this man to stand out, was his innovation in film making. He infused a new life into Kannada film industry and changed the way film were made in the state. His movies like Ondu Mutina Kathe, starring superstar Dr Rajkumar, had underwater shooting for the first time.
Shankar Nag is known for two most iconic works in his life time. Accident and Malgudi Days. The movie Accident became a cult classic and is considered one of the most revolutionary movie in the Kannada film industry. The movie got National and State awards. Malgudi Days on the other hand was a television series made on the stories written by celebrated novelist R.K. Narayan in his book Malgudi Days.
Many still believe that had Shankar Nag not lost his life in that tragic road accident 25 years back, the Kannada film industry would have seen an overhaul and the quality of the movies would have been of international standards. The void this man has left on in the film industry will perhaps never be filled.
Check the slides to know more about the iconic actor/director of the Kannada film industry.
He had conceptualized Metro Rail 30 Years back
Apart from being a film maker, Shankar Nag also had innovative ideas for the society. In 1985, the director had conceptualized the idea of having a metro rail service in Bangalore. He did a survey of metro rail service in Tokyo, Toronto and Malaysia, before coming up with a blue print for his idea.
Construction of house in 8 days!
Shankar Nag was an innovator. He was doing a research on how to build durable house in a very short period of time. The man had plans of building a house in just 8 days. He took this idea to the CM Ramakrishna Hegde. Unfortunately, he died before the whole idea could be developed.
He played musical instruments
Shankar Nag was extremely fond of music. He took keen interest in learning music and was a very good musician in his own world. Shankar Nag could play Tabla, Harmonium and Flute with great dexterity.
He was fond of cars
Apart from music, Shankar Nag was fond of cars too. He used to take great care of all the cars that he purchased and used to read a lot about cars. His fondness to cars was evident when he made cars as one of the characters in Geetha and Minchina Ota.
Car was his kitchen and library
Cars were Shankar Nag's first life. He was always a busy man and used to travel a lot for shooting. He used to do his breakfast, lunch and dinner inside his car. He used to store some books for reading in the car. He also had a typewriter inside his car so that he could finish typing his scripts while on the move.
Leaving a bank job for movies
Shankar Nag was offered a bank job when we was doing his studies in Mumbai. But his was not cut out for a job that required him to sit behind the desk! He said goodbye to the bank job and joined theatre as an artist. There was no looking back for him since then.
Direction was his first choice
Shankar Nag was known as a flamboyant actor. However, being a hero was never his passion. He always preferred to go behind the camera to be the director of a movie. He donned the director's cap with Minchina Ota. After that he made many memorable movies.
Shankar Nag's interest in Club culture
Shankar Nag was very much influenced by the western culture. He started the country club where people could become exclusive members and meet on regular basis. He could never attend the first anniversary of his own club that was supposed to be held on November 20, 1990.
The fateful night
Shankar Nag was in a party in the country club on the night of his accident. He had planned to sleep that night and then go to Davangere the next day morning. However, he changed the plans and left with his family the same night in his car.
Anant Nag's warning
Before leaving the party, his brother Anant Nag advised him to not leave for Davangere on the same night. He also adviced him to drive safely. But Shankar Nag was a man of his own will. He left the party same night and met a tragic death in a road accident.
