Veteran film actor, filmmaker and playwright Girish Karnad passed away on Monday morning in Bengaluru. He was 81. Karnad was the recipient of Jnanpith Award in 1998, the highest award for contributions to Literature.
He was last seen in Salman Khan- starrer Tiger Zinda Hai in 2017, a sequel of Ek Tha Tiger which was released in 2012. Karnad had also played a key role in the 2012 flick of Khan.
A noted progressive voice, Karnad succumbed to a prolonged illness. He is survived by wife Saraswathy Ganapathy and two children.
Karnad was born on May 19, 1938 in Mumbai. He predominantly worked in south cinema industry and Bollywood. Karnad rise as a playwright in the 1960s marked the return of modern playwriting in Kannada. Karnad had for four decades composed plays and later translated them into English, receiving worldwide acclaim.
He was conferred Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan in 1974 and 1992, respectively. He had also won four Filmfare Awards. While the three are Filmfare Award for Best Director – Kannada, the fourth was Best Screenplay Award.
He made his acting as well as screenwriting debut in 1970 in Samskara, a Kannada movie based on a novel by UR Ananthamurthy and directed by Pattabhirama Reddy. The movie won the first President’s Golden Lotus Award for Kannada cinema.
Karnad was also seen in TV series Malgudi Days which was based on RK Narayan’s books. He played the role of Swami’s father.
Some of his famous Kannada movies include Tabbaliyu Neenade Magane, Ondanondu Kaladalli, Cheluvi, Kaadu and Kanooru Heggaditi. His Hindi movies include Nishaant (1975), Manthan (1976), Swami (1977) and Pukar (2000). He also acted in a number of Nagesh Kukunoor films including Iqbal, Dor, 8 x 10 Tasveer and Aashayein (2010). Karnad has acted in the Kannada gangster movie Aa Dinagalu.
He is also known for providing voice of late President APJ Abdul Kalam in the audiobook of Kalam’s autobiography by Charkha Audiobooks ‘Wings of Fire’.
