Veteran Playwright-Actor Girish Karnad Dies At 81

Noted playwright, actor and director Girish Karnad died at his residence in Bengaluru, at the age of 81, people associated with him said today.

Karnad, a progressive voice that championed the freedom of expression, was ailing for some time now, the people said.

A multifaceted personality, Karnad has acted in several plays and movies that have received critical acclamation.

Karnad, a recipient of Jnanpith Award, was also conferred the Padma Shri in 1974 and the Padma Bhushan in 1992. He was also a Rhodes Scholar from Oxford University, in the 1960s that earned him his Master of Arts degree in philosophy, political science and economics.

His plays, written in Kannada, have been translated into English and several Indian languages.

He made his acting debut and screenwriting debut in iconic Kannada movie, "Samskara" (1970), based on a novel by the litterateur UR Ananthamurthy. It was directed by Pattabhirama Reddy and the film won the first President's Golden Lotus Award for Kannada cinema. He subsequently acted in acclaimed Kannada movies such as “Vamsa Vriksha”, “Hayavadana”, “Mysooru Mallige” and “Aa Dinagalu”, among others.

Though he started off his career in cinema as an actor, he is best known as a writer and thinker. Karnad was one of the most prominent artistic voices of his generation.

He was an eminent playwright with works such as "Nagamandala", "Yayati" and "Tughlaq", which was one of the most successfully performed plays, to his credit. He also worked in Hindi cinema's parallel film movement in movies such as "Swami", and "Nishant".

His TV credits include "Malgudi Days" in which he played Swami's father and a hosting stint in the science magazine "Turning Point" on Doordarshan in the early 1990s.

In later years, Karnad was seen in commercial films such as the Tamil films “Kadhalan”, “Minsara Kanavu” and “Hey Ram”; “Shankardada MBBS” and “Komaram Puli” in Telugu; “The Prince” in Malayalam; and the Hindi flicks "Tiger Zinda Hai" and "Shivaay".