India, Sept. 23 -- Veteran actor Anant Nag on Tuesday received the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for 2024 from President Droupadi Murmu at the 72nd National Film Awards ceremony in Ekta Nagar, Gujarat.

With a career spanning more than five decades, Nag is the second Kannada actor to receive the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, India's highest honour in cinema.

Accepting the award, Nag reflected on his journey from theatre to cinema and said he had never imagined where his career would eventually take him.

Nag recalled a line from Adi Shankaracharya's Bhaja Govindam - "Udaranimittam bahukrita vesham" - and linked it to Kanakadasa's Ellaru maduvudu hottegagi and the Hindi phrase paapi pet ke liye, reflecting on how people take on different roles to earn...