Veteran Actor, Playwright Girish Karnad passes away

Bengaluru, June 10, 2019:

Actor and playwright Girish Karnad, who was last seen in Tiger Zinda Hai, died in Bengaluru on Monday, weeks after he turned 81.

The 81-year-old actor, who was being treated for his prolonged illness, passed away due to multiple organ failure. His funeral will take place today.

Karnad was born Girish Raghunath Karnad in Matheran, in present-day Maharashtra, in 1938. After working at the Oxford University Press, Kolkata, he decided to become a full-time writer.

Karnad made his acting debut in a Kannada movie Samskara in 1970. based on a novel by UR Ananthamurthy and directed by Pattabhirama Reddy. The film won the President’s Golden Lotus Award for Kannada cinema.

He also worked in Hindi films like Manthan (1976), Pukar (2000), Iqbal (2005), Dor (2006) and Ek Tha Tiger (2012).

In television, he played the role of Swami’s father in the TV series Malgudi Days (1986–1987), based on RK Narayan’s books. He also hosted the science magazine Turning Point on Doordarshan, in the early 1990s.

He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1974 and the Padma Bhushan in 1992. He was also a winner of the Jnanpith Award in 1999.

The Jnanpith Awardee was a popular name in the film circle as well as theatre circle.

Karnad had predominantly acted in South Indian films in Tamil, Telugu and Kannada. His notable works in Tamil include 24, Kadhalan, Chellamey.

His plays were translated into English and other Indian languages and directed by directors like Ebrahim Alkazi, BV Karanth, Alyque Padamsee, Prasanna, Arvind Gaur, Satyadev Dubey, Vijaya Mehta, Shyamanand Jalan, Amal Allana and Zafer Mohiuddin.

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