Noted actor, playwright Girish Karnad passes away
Veteran Indian playwright, actor and director Girish Karnad died of multiple organ failure in Bengaluru early yesterday. He was 81.
Karnad, who will be remembered for his roles in Shyam Benegal’s Hindi films “Nishant” (1975) and “Manthan” (1976), was an accomplished actor both on the stage and on the big screen.
Recipient of India’s third highest civilian honour Padma Bhushan in 1992, Karnad was born on May 19, 1938, in Maharashtra and was a Rhodes Scholar at the University of Oxford where he wrote his first play “Yayati” in 1961.
Among his other acclaimed plays are “Tughlaq” (1964), “Hayavadana” (1972). He made his acting and screenwriting debut with a classic Kannada language film “Samskara” in 1970.
Indian President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered condolences to the legend, reported India Today online.
Kovind wrote on Twitter, “Sad to hear of the passing of Girish Karnad, writer, actor and doyen of Indian theatre. Our cultural world is poorer today. My condolences to his family and to the many who followed his work #PresidentKovind.”
PM Modi took to Twitter saying, “Girish Karnad will be remembered for his versatile acting across all mediums. He also spoke passionately on causes dear to him. His works will continue being popular in the years to come. Saddened by his demise. May his soul rest in peace.”
An eminent stage personality in 1960s and 1970s, considered the golden period of Indian theatre, Karnad often used history and mythology to deal with burning contemporary issues in his plays which have been translated into English and several Indian languages and reproduced on the stage by eminent directors like Ebrahim Alkazi, B V Karanth, Alyque Padamsee, Satyadev Dubey, Vijaya Mehta, Shyamanand Jalan, Amal Allana and Zafer Mohiuddin.
Karnad won four Filmfare Awards, of which three for Best Director in Kannada language and the fourth a Filmfare Best Screenplay Award.
He had earned the wrath of Hindu right-wing forces for his views on 18th century Mysore ruler Tipu Sultan. He was also reportedly on the hit list of a group that killed journalist-author Gauri Lankesh in Bengaluru a few years ago.
He made his debut as a film director with Vamsha Vriksha (1971), a Kannada language film which fetched him national award for best direction along with B V Karanth who co-directed the film.
Later, Karnad directed several movies in Kannada and Hindi, including Godhuli (1977) having Om Puri, Naseeruddin Shah and Kulbhushan Kharbanda in the cast and Utsav (1984) which stars Shashi Kapoor and Rekha, reported our New Delhi correspondent.
He has several documentaries, on Kannada poet D R Bendre (1972), Kanaka-Purandara (English, 1988) on two medieval devotional poets of Karnataka, Kanaka Dasa and Purandara Dasa, and The Lamp in the Niche (English, 1989) on Sufism and the Bhakti movement.
He served as director of Pune’s Film and Television Institute of India (1974–1975) and chairman of the Sangeet Natak Akademi.
Karnad’s cremation was held at Baiyappanahalli crematorium in East Bengaluru yesterday evening.