Girish Karnad, noted playwright, intellectual, dead

Bengaluru: He never shied from speaking his mind whether it was calling Rabindranath Tagore a “mediocre playwright”, criticising Nobel laureate, V.S. Naipaul, praising Mysuru king of old, Tipu Sultan, or making controversial comments on Naxalism. It was as much this side of his personality as his legendary plays that made Girish Karnad such an outstanding figure, who strode the worlds of theatre and movies for over five decades with equal ease, earning accolades even as an actor.

The loss of the Jnanapith awardee, who passed away at his home in the city on Monday morning at 81, is therefore mourned by people across generations and literary tastes.

Survived by his wife, Dr Saraswati Karnad and his two children, the Rhodes scholar had suffered from a prolonged illness related to his lungs that required him to wear a mobile oxygen concentrator during the last few years.

He was seen wearing the life support equipment even in the Salman Khan starrer, Tiger Zinda Hai, where he played the role of a fictitious RAW chief, Shenoy. His last rites were conducted as he had wished, without the trappings of a state funeral or religious ceremonies. His mortal remains were taken to the Kallahalli crematorium in Byappanahalli where the last rites were performed in the presence of family members, the who’s who of the film industry, theatre, politics and literary scholars.

“He was suffering from a illness for some time and passed away in the morning due to it. He had made it clear there was to be no state funeral or religious ceremonies after his passing. Although we did receive a call from the state government’s office offering to hold a state funeral, we decided on a simple affair without any form of ostentation or rituals as he would have wished,” said his son, Raghu Karnad.

However, determined to honour the seven-time Jnanapith awardee, the state government declared Monday a holiday and announced a three-day state mourning as a mark of respect for him.

While the intellectual  may have passed away, his contribution to the world of literature will remain as his plays were both critically acclaimed and popular.

While numerous works brought him fame, he found time for acting and screenwriting too, making his debut in Samskara, based on a book by legendary Kannada writer U.R. Ananthamurthy. The film won the National award for best feature film. Karnad's directorial debut,  Vamsha Vriksha,  was co-directed by another giant,  B V Karanth. Coincidentally, it also marked the debut of one of Kannada film industry's legendary actors, Dr. Vishnuvardhan.

While remaining a prominent face of parallel cinema,  Karnad was  also popular in commercial mainstream films across various languages. In Tamil films, his most popular role was that of  a Governor in 'Kadhalan' starring the dancing sensation, Prabhudeva and actress, Nagma. He also worked with Tamil superstars, Rajinikanth and  Kamal Hassan besides several prominent actors. His last appearance was in Salman Khan's 'Tiger Zinda Hai'.

Those familiar with the late 80s popular TV series 'Malgudi Days' directed by Shankar Nag,  will remember him for his role as the father of the little boy, Swami, who is central to the plot