Girish Karnad

Girish Raghunath Kārnād (19 May 1938 – 10 June 2019) was an Indian playwright, actor, film director, writer, and a Jnanpith awardee, who predominantly worked in Kannada, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Marathi films. His rise as a playwright in the 1960s marked the coming of age of modern Indian playwriting in Kannada, just as Badal Sarkar did in Bengali, Vijay Tendulkar in Marathi, and Mohan Rakesh in Hindi. He was a recipient of the 1998 Jnanpith Award, the highest literary honour conferred in India.

For four decades Karnad composed plays, often using history and mythology to tackle contemporary issues. He translated his plays into English and received acclaim. His plays have been translated into some Indian languages and directed by directors like Ebrahim Alkazi, B. V. Karanth, Alyque Padamsee, Prasanna, Arvind Gaur, Satyadev Dubey, Vijaya Mehta, Shyamanand Jalan, Amal Allanaa and Zafer Mohiuddin. His mother Krishnabai (née Mankikar) was a young widow with a son who belonged to a poor family. Since it was necessary for her to earn a living, she began working as a nurse and cook (general housekeeper) for the bedridden wife of a certain Raghunath Karnad, a doctor in the Bombay Medical Services.

Some five years later, and while the first wife was still alive, Krishnabai and Raghunath Karnad were married in a private ceremony. The marriage was controversial not because of bigamy (it was legal until 1956 for a Hindu man to have more than one wife) but because of the prevailing social prejudice against widow remarriage. Therefore, the wedding was held privately, and under the dispensation of the Arya Samaj, a reform organization that condones widow remarriage. Girish was the third of the four children born thereafter.

Karnad's initial schooling was in Marathi. Later, after his father was transferred to Sirsi in the Kannada-speaking regions of Bombay Presidency, Karnad was exposed to travelling theatre groups and nataka mandalis (theatre troupes), which were experiencing a period of efflorescence during the iconic Balgandharva era . As a youngster, he was an ardent admirer of Yakshagana and the theater in his village. His family moved to Dharwad in Karnataka when he was fourteen, where he grew up with his two sisters and a niece.

After completing his schooling at the Basel Mission Boys School, Dharwad, he earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics and statistics from Karnataka Arts College, Dharwad (Karnataka University), in 1958. After graduation, he went to England and studied philosophy, Politics and Economics at Magdalen in Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar (1960–63), earning his Master of Arts degree in philosophy, political science and economics.

Career After working with the Oxford University Press, Chennai for seven years (1963–70), he resigned to take to writing full-time.

During 1987–88, he was at the University of Chicago as visiting professor and Fulbright playwright-in-residence. and soon, sometime in the mid-1950s, one day he experienced a rush of dialogues by characters from the Mahabharata in Kannada.

"I could actually hear the dialogues being spoken into my ears ... I was just the scribe," said Karnad in a later interview. Yayati was published in 1961, when he was 23 years old. It is based on the story of King Yayati, one of the ancestors of the Pandavas, who was cursed into premature old age by his preceptor, Shukracharya, who was incensed at Yayati's infidelity.

Yayati, in turn, asks his sons to sacrifice their youth for him, and one of them agrees. It ridicules the ironies of life through characters in Mahabharata. The play in Hindi was adapted by Satyadev Dubey and Amrish Puri was lead actor for the play. It became an instant success, immediately translated and staged in several other Indian languages.

Karnad found a new approach of drawing historical and mythological sources to tackle contemporary themes and existentialist crisis of modern man through characters locked in psychological and philosophical conflicts. His next was Tughlaq (1964), about a rashly idealist 14th-century Sultan of Delhi, Muhammad bin Tughluq, and allegory on the Nehruvian era which started with ambitious idealism and ended up in disillusionment.

Movies Karnad made his acting as well as screenwriting debut in a Kannada movie, Samskara (1970), based on a novel by U.R. Ananthamurthy and directed by Pattabhirama Reddy. That movie won the first President's Golden Lotus Award for Kannada cinema.

In television, he played the role of Swami's father in the TV series Malgudi Days (1986–1987), based on R. K. Narayan's books, directed by Kannada actor and director Shankar Nag. He also hosted the science magazine Turning Point on Doordarshan, in the early 1990s.

He made his directorial debut with Vamsha Vriksha (1971), based on a Kannada novel by S. L. Bhyrappa. It won him National Film 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), Utsav (1984) and Cheluvi (1992). Karnad has made number of documentaries, like one on the Kannada poet D. R. Bendre (1972), Kanaka-Purandara (English, 1988) on two medieval Bhakti poets of Karnataka, Kanaka Dasa and Purandara Dasa, and The Lamp in the Niche (English, 1989) on Sufism and the Bhakti movement. Many of his films and documentaries have won several national and international awards.

Some of his famous Kannada movies include Tabbaliyu Neenade Magane, Ondanondu Kaladalli and Kaadu and most recent film Kanooru Heggaditi (1999), based on a novel by Kannada writer Kuvempu.

His Hindi movies include Nishaant (1975), Manthan (1976), Swami (1977), and Pukar (2000). He has acted in a number of Nagesh Kukunoor films, starting with Iqbal (2005), where Karnad's role of the ruthless cricket coach got him critical acclaim. This was followed by Dor (2006), 8 x 10 Tasveer (2009) and Aashayein (2010). He played a key role in movies Ek Tha Tiger (2012) and its sequel Tiger Zinda Hai (2017) produced by Yash Raj Films.

Karnad has acted in the Kannada gangster movie Aa Dinagalu.

Other works He provided the voice of A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, former President of India, in the audiobook of Kalam's autobiography by Charkha Audiobooks, Wings of Fire. He narrated and recorded a collection of folk and mythological stories as 'Karadi the Bear' for the children's book publisher Karadi Tales (Charkha is also an initiative of Karadi Tales for young adults).

Awards and honours For Literature Rajyotsava Award – 1970 Sangeet Natak Akademi award and Varthur navya Award – 1972 Padma Shri – 1974 Padma Bhushan – 1992

For Cinema

National Film Awards

1971: Best Direction: Vamsha Vriksha (with B. V. Karanth) 1971: Best Feature Film in Kannada: Vamsha Vriksha 1973: Second Best Feature Film: Kaadu 1977: Best Feature Film in Kannada: Tabbaliyu Neenade Magane 1978: Best Screenplay: Bhumika (with Shyam Benegal and Satyadev Dubey) 1978: Best Feature Film in Kannada: Ondanondu Kaladalli 1989: Best Non-Feature Film: Kanaka Purandara 1990: Best Non-feature Film on Social Issues: The Lamp in the Niche 1992: Best Film on Environment Conservation: Cheluvi 1999: Best Feature Film in Kannada: Kaanuru Heggadathi

Filmfare Awards South

1972: Filmfare Award for Best Director - Kannada – Vamsha Vriksha 1974: Filmfare Award for Best Director - Kannada – Kaadu 1978: Filmfare Award for Best Director - Kannada – Ondanondu Kaladalli 1983: Filmfare Award for Best Actor - Kannada - Ananda Bhairavi

Filmfare Awards Hindi

1980: Filmfare Award for Best Screenplay: Godhuli (with B. V. Karanth) 1980: Nominated - Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor: Aasha 1982: Nominated - Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor: Teri Kasam

Karnataka State Film Awards

1971-72: First Best Film – Vamsha Vriksha 1971-72: Best Dialogue Writer – Vamsha Vriksha 1973-74: Second Best Film – Kaadu 1989-90: Best Supporting Actor – Santha Shishunala Sharifa 1995-96: Best Supporting Actor – Sangeetha Sagara Ganayogi Panchakshara Gavai 1999-00: Second Best Film – Kanooru Heggadithi

Others Gubbi Veeranna Award for his services to theatre (as a playwright) Karnad served as the director of the Film and Television Institute of India from 1974 to 1975, the Indian co-chairman for the Joint Media Committee of the Indo-US Sub-Commission on Education and Culture from 1984 to 1993, chairman of the Sangeet Natak Academy from 1988 to 1993, and president of Karnataka Nataka Academy from 1976 to 1978. Honorary Doctorate from University of Southern California, Los Angeles – 2011 1996 -Dr.T.M.A.Pai Konkani Distinguished Achievement Award for Performing Arts

Controversies

At the Tata Literary Festival held in Mumbai in 2012, Karnad was invited to speak about "his life in theater" in an hour-long session. During his speech, he lashed out at V. S. Naipaul for his "antipathy towards Indian Muslims". Naipaul had earlier been conferred the Lifetime achievement award by the festival's organisers. Karnad also criticized the organizers for having honored Naipaul. The audience, which had gathered to hear Karnad speak, had mixed reactions to the speech. Some, like organizer Anil Dharker, tried ineffectually to steer the speech toward less controversial waters. Others were amused by the episode, and some commented on the research and logic that had gone into the speech (unfortunately overshadowed by its 'scandalous' nature).

Just a few weeks after this, Karnad again created controversy by claiming that Rabindranath Tagore, who wrote India's national anthem, was a great poet but a second-rate playwright.

In November 2015, during celebrations marking the anniversary of 18th-century Muslim ruler Tipu Sultan's birth, Karnad stated that Bangalore International Airport should have been named after Tipu Sultan instead of Kempe Gowda. This created a furore among many people. Karnad apologised the following day.

Personal life While working in Madras for Oxford University Press on his return from England, Karnad met his future wife Saraswathi Ganapathy at a party. They decided to marry but the marriage was only formalised ten years later, when Karnad was 42 years old. Saraswathi was born to a Parsi mother, Nurgesh Mugaseth, and a Kodava Hindu father, Kodandera Ganapathy. The couple had two children. They lived in Bengaluru. He was extremely fluent and well-versed in Kannada, Konkani, Hindi, Marathi, and English.

Activism He was a proponent of multiculturalism and freedom of expression. He was a critic of religious fundamentalism. He had publicly condemned the demolition of Babri Masjid in 1992 and later spoke against the attempts to create controversy about the Idgah Maidan in Hubli. He was one of the 200 writers who put out an open letter against hate politics and for “diverse and equal India” during the 2019 general elections. With a tube in his nose, he wore a placard saying "Me Too Urban Naxal" at the first death anniversary of slain journalist Gauri Lankesh.

Death Karnad died on 10 June 2019 at Bengaluru at the age of 81 due to multiple organ failure following prolonged illness. "After a discussion with his son, it was made clear to us that his last wish was to not have any floral procession, VVIPs or visits of any dignitaries. Hence, it will be a simple affair."