A file photo of Girish Karnad.
| Photo Credit: K. Bhagya Prakash
Eminent playwright, writer and actor Girish Karnad passed away at the age of 81 on June 10, 2019, at his Bengaluru residence due to multiple organ failure. He had a multifaceted career.
As a writer of historical drama, he delved into the unanswered questions in history, as in his play Rakshasa Tangadi or Crossing Over to Talikote; as an activist, he made a statement with his “Me Too Urban Naxal” placard at an even to commemorate slain journalist Gauri Lankesh in 2018.
Girish Karnad: life in pictures
Girish Raghunath Karnad,
veteran playwright, actor, filmmaker, and theatre personality, passed away on June 10, 2019.
The 81-year-old died at his residence in Bengaluru. He is survived by his wife Saraswathy Ganapathy and two children.
Born into a Konkani family in what was then Bombay Presidency, Karnad grew up in Sirsi and Dharwad in Karnataka.
He later settled in Bengaluru.
He was a prominent theatre personality of the 60s and 70s, a period regarded as the Renaissance of Indian theatre.
He worked with themes of mythology and history, giving them contemporary relevance.
Karnad made his cinema debut (acting and screenwriting) in 1970 in the critically-acclaimed Kannada movie ‘Samskara’, based on U. R. Anantamurthy’s novel by the same name.
Karnad also worked in Hindi cinema. He directed the critically acclaimed Utsav (1984).
His other Hindi movies include Nishaant (1975), Manthan (1976), Swami (1977) and Pukar (2000).
In recent years, Karnad appeared in Iqbal (2005), Dor (2006), Ek Tha Tiger(2012) and Tiger Zinda Hai (2017).
A social and political activist, he often spoke out against hate politics and for freedom of expression.
In this file photo, Karnad is seen with writer Arundhati Roy and social activist Mahasweta Devi addressing a press conference under the Forum for the Protection of Free Speech and Expression in support of Taslima Nasreen in 2008.
At an event marking one year of journalist Gauri Lankesh’s murder, Karnad held a placard that read “Me Too Urban Naxal.”
In this image, Karnad is seen during the condolence meeting for senior Kannada writer and former vice-chancellor of Kannada University M. M. Kalburgi, who was shot dead in Dharwad in 2015.
Karnad during a protest in 2016, against the arrest of JNU student leader Kanhaiah Kumar, in Bengaluru.
His last rites will be held at Kalpalli crematorium in Bengaluru. The family has said that it will be a simple funeral without any form of ostentation or ritual, in keeping with his wish.
The Karnataka Government has declared a holiday for schools and colleges and three-day State mourning in Karnad’s honour.
He is a recipient of the
Jnanpith award (1998), the highest literary award conferred in the country. He is also a recipeint of the
Padma Bhushan (1992),
Padma Shri (1974),
Sahitya Academy award (1994), and
Sangeet Natak Academy award (1972).
In this file photo, Karnad is at the 34th Jnanpith award ceremony in 1999 in New Delhi.
He served as
Director, Film and Television Institute of India (1974–1975)
Chairman, Sangeet Natak Akademi, the National Academy of the Performing Arts (1988–93).
A Rhodes and Fullbright scholar, Karnad has written numerous plays in Kannada and is one of Kannada’s foremost playwrights.
He wrote his first play ‘Yayati’ at 23 years of age, while he was still studying at Oxford.
His other notable Kannada plays are ‘Hayavadana’, ‘Nagamandala’, ‘Tughlaq’, ‘Agni Mattu Male’, ‘Odakalu Bimba’, ‘Tipuvina Kanasugalu’.
His works are translated into English and multiple Indian languages.
His directorial debut was with Vamsha Vriksha (1971), based on a Kannada novel by S. L. Bhyrappa. He co-directed the movie with B. V. Karanth.
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Karnad has written plays for over half a century, exploring identity and desire, reworking myths and questioning traditional morality. In his plays, he has humanised demons and written extensively on the plight of the underclass. For his social consciousness, he has repeatedly come under fire from extremist forces.
Three years after his death, the playwright’s voice was brought to life again, with the Bangalore International Centre (BIC) hosting a nine-part podcast titled ‘The River has no fear of Memories’ in 2022. The podcast featured extensive conversations Arshia Sattar had with Girish Karnad for a week in June, 2019, cut short by his death on June 10. The Jnanpith awardee in the conversations looks back on his life, work, and concerns.
Here is a collection of stories from our archives to shed light on Karnad, the playwright and activist.
