Making a mark with Tughlaq and Malgudi Days

Chennai: Girish Karnad left a lasting impression as a writer and an actor on college students and TV viewers of the late 1980s with his play 'Tughlaq' and TV serials 'Swami and Friends' and 'Malgudi Days'.

 I was first introduced to Karnad's play Tughlaq in my  first year BA (English Literature) course.  It was quite challenging and tough for 18-year-old students to decipher 'Tughlaq' as  Karnad  had portrayed the Delhi Sultan  as a  man  of opposites whose political aspirations were far from reality.

My college professor unraveled the deft intrigue running throughout the play much to our excitement. Karnad's 'Tughlaq' wanted progress,  equality and peace but his idealism became a farce as both Muslims and Hindus did not trust his intentions.

The  gripping main plot,  efficacious sub-plots and skillful characterization in the action- packed play were fascinating.

Characters like Aziz, Aazam, Tughlaq's stepmother, Najib and Barani lay etched in our minds.

The play influenced us so much that we students  staged a few important scenes from 'Tughlaq' after a month-long rehearsal. The standing ovation we won at the end of the play remains unforgettable to this day.

 We also had R. K. Narayan's 'Swami and Friends' prescribed for our degree course and when it was televised as a weekly serial on DD National our joy knew no bounds.  Girish Karnad played the role of Swami's father to perfection.

Shankar Nag's directorial finesse and the lilting title track left TV audience awestruck.

Karnad was one of our favorite dramatists during our college days and his foray into TV and then into the silver screen made him a popular artiste of the 1980s-90s.