Born to the late Anandi and Sadanand Nagarkatte, a native of coastal Karnataka, where he received his early education under the guidance of Anand Ashram in South Canara and Chitrapur math in North Canara.
He was later sent to Bombay for further education and became involved with amateur theatre activities for eight years. This stint led to his breakthrough in the Kannada film industry with the 1971 film "Sankalpa", courtesy the guidance of late Shri G. V. Iyer and renowned playwright Shri Girish Karnad.
Under the direction of Shyam Benegal, he appeared in a variety of roles in films such as "Ankur" (1974),"Nishant" (1975),"Bhumika" (1977),"Manthan" (1976),"Kondra" (1977),and "Kaliyug" (1981) during the 1970s.
Throughout his career, he has acted in films under the direction of notable filmmakers like M. S. Sathyu, Girish Karnad, and Vikas Desai, as well as serials and films based on the works of novelist late Shri R. K. Narayan, produced by T. S. Narasimhan and directed by his younger brother, late Shri Shankar Nag.
With a career spanning over 175 Kannada films, he has also appeared in landmark films in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, and Marathi. He has won the Karnataka State Best Actor Award four times, besides other accolades like the Filmfare Awards.
Apart from his acting career, he has been an active participant in the Janatha Party Political experiment since the 1970s, serving as a member of the Karnataka Legislative Council (1988-1994),the Karnataka Legislative Assembly (1994-1999),and a minister of State attached to the Chief Minister (1996-1999).
Currently, he is involved in select assignments, including a feature film in Hindi "Yuva" directed by Mani Ratnam and another feature "Man eater of Malgudi" based on late Shri R. K. Narayan's novel, now being directed by Ms. Kavitha Lankesh.
