Noted playwright-actor Girish Karnad passes away at 81

Renowned playwright, actor and Jnanpith awardee Girish Karnad, who left his indelible mark in the world of literature, theatre and cinema spanning five decades, passed away at his residence here Monday after prolonged illness, his family said.

A multi-hyphenate personality, who often courtedcontroversies for his fearless vocal stance on several issues, Karnad, 81, issurvived by wife Saraswathi, son Raghu Karnad, a journalist and writer, anddaughter Radha.

   

Raghu said his father was suffering from lung-relatedillness.

“He passed away some time this morning and we found hisbody at 8.30 am. He was sleeping. As you all know, he was quite unwell for sometime. He had a lung illness- that is what finally took his life,” Raghutold reporters here.

“I’m so grateful to all his fans, his admirers and wehope that his memory will last with everyone in Karnataka for a longtime,” he added.

A recipient of Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan, Karnad was oneof the most important literary minds of the present era, who enriched theIndian literature with his seminal works in his native language Kannada.

He wrote, acted in and directed several plays and moviesthat earned critical acclaim. His most well known works include the plays”Yayati”, “Tughlaq” and “Naga-Mandala”, whichhave been translated from Kannada to English and other Indian languages.

Karnad was also a well-known face in Kannada and Hindicinema ranging from parallel films such as “Samskara”,”Nishant”, “Manthan” to commercial outings such as”Tiger Zinda Hai” and “Shivaay”.

The mortal remains of Karnad were cremated at Kalpalielectric crematorium in the city in the afternoon.

In deference to Karnad’s wishes, the family had decided notto follow any religious ceremonies or accept state honours during cremation.

Karnataka Ministers D K Shivakumar, R V Deshpande, severalpersonalities from theatre and film, including B Jayashree and Suresh Heblikar,paid their last respects.

The family had requested his fans and dignitaries who wantedto pay their last respects to directly come to crematorium as they wantedcremation to be a private affair.

Declaring a holiday on Monday as a mark of respect toKarnad, the Chief Minister’s office in a statement also announced a three-daystate mourning.

The CMO had announced that Karnad will receive statehonours, which is in line with respect given to other Jnanpith awardees in thepast. However, state honours were not given, respecting the wishes of theKarnad and his family.

“I had a meeting with family members- Karnad’s son,daughter and friends. They have declined it as per the wish of their father,and thanked the government,” Shivakumar said.

President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modicondoled the demise of Karnad, saying he will be remembered for his work foryears to come.

Kovind said with Karnad’s demise, India’s cultural world hasbecome poorer.

Modi said Karnad will be remembered for his versatile actingacross all mediums.

“He also spoke passionately on causes dear to him. Hisworks will continue being popular in the years to come. Saddened by hisdemise,” he posted on Twitter.

Condoling the death of Karnad, Chief Minister H DKumaraswamy said, “We have lost a cultural ambassador.”

Karnad was born in Maharashtra in 1938 as third child to DrRaghunath Karnad and Krishnabai. His mother was a young widow before marryingRaghunath Karnad.

The family later shifted to Sirsi and Dharwad in Karnatakawhere he spent his formative years and the family’s inclination to dramaticarts laid the foundation for his  futurein the literary world.

Known to be a part of the “Navya” literarymovement, which was influenced by the renaissance in Western literature, Karnadwrote “Nagamandala”, “Hayavadana”, “Tughlaq” and”Yayati” among others.

His noted work in the field of film include”Samskara”, based on a novel by U R Ananthamurthy and “VamshaVriksha”, based on a Kannada novel by S L Bhyrappa.

Karnad also acted in several Kannada and Hindi commercialmovies, most recent being 2017’s “Tiger Zinda Hai”.

He had played the role in Malgudi Days as Swami’s father,and in Indradhanush as Appu’s father. He also hosted popular science show”Turning Point” on Doordarshan.

Fearless in his political assertions and uncompromising inhis beliefs, Karnad often courted controversies, Karnad was among 600 theatrepersonalities who had signed a letter ahead of the Lok Sabha polls askingpeople to “vote BJP and its allies” out of power, arguing that theidea of India and its constitution were under threat.

He had criticised Nobel laureate V S Naipaul for hiscontroversial views on Muslims in India, saying the writer had no idea of thecommunity’s contribution to the country’s history.

In the light of a controversy over Karnataka government’sdecision to celebrate Tipu Jayanti, Karnad had said the 18th century Mysoreruler would have enjoyed the same status as of Maratha king ChhatrapathiShivaji, if he was a Hindu and not a Muslim.Karnad was also in the hit-list of a right-winggang, which had allegedly killed noted journalist Gauri Lankesh, according tothe Special Investigation Team (SIT), which probed the killing that triggerednational outrage. 

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