Everything about Girish Karnad totally explained
Girish Raghunath Karnad (
Kannada:ಗಿರೀಶ್ ಕಾರ್ನಾಡ್) (born
19 May 1938) is a contemporary
writer,
playwright,
actor and
movie director in
Kannada language. He is the latest of seven recipients of
Jnanpith Award for
Kannada, the highest literary honour conferred in
India. For four decades Karnad has been composing
plays, often using
history and
mythology to tackle contemporary issues. He is also active in the world of
Indian cinema working as an
actor,
director, and
screenwriter, earning numerous awards along the way. He was conferred
Padma Shri and
Padma Bhushan by the government of India.
Early life
Girish Karnad was born in
Matheran,
Maharashtra, into a
Konkani-speaking family. His initial schooling was in Marathi. As a youngster, Karnad was an ardent admirer of
Yakshagana and the theater in his village. He earned his
Bachelors of Arts degree from
Karnataka University,
Dharwad, in 1958. Upon graduation Karnad went to
England and studied at
Lincoln and
Magdalen colleges in
Oxford as a
Rhodes Scholar, earning his
Master of Arts degree in
philosophy,
political science and
economics. Karnad was a Visiting Professor and
Fulbright Scholar in Residence at the
University of Chicago.
Literature
Karnad is most famous as a
playwright. His plays, written in
Kannada, have been widely translated into
English and all
major Indian languages. Karnad's plays are written neither in
English, in which he dreamed of earning international literary fame, nor in his mother tongue
Konkani. Instead they're composed in his adopted language
Kannada. When Karnad started writing plays,
Kannada literature was highly influenced by the renaissance in
Western literature. Writers would chose a subject which looked entirely alien to manifestation of native soil. In a situation like that Karnad found a new approach like drawing
historical and
mythological sources to tackle contemporary themes. His first play, "Yayati" (1961), ridicules the ironies of life through characters in
Mahabharata and became an instant success, immediately translated and staged in
several other Indian languages. "Tughlaq" (1964), his best loved play, established Karnad as one of the most promising playwrights in the
country. A large number of his kanada plays have been translated by Dr.
Bhargavi P Rao
Movies
His directorial debut came with the movie
VamshaVruksh, based on a Kannada novel by S.L. Bhairappa. The movie won several national and international awards. Before this, Karnad acted in a movie called Samskara, based on a novel by U.R. Ananthamurthy and directed by Pattabhirama Reddy. That movie won the first President's Golden Lotus Award for Kannada cinema. Later, Karnad directed several movies in Kannada and Hindi. Some of his famous Kannada movies include Tabbaliyu neenade magane
, Ondanondu Kaaladalli
, Cheluvi
and Kadu
. His Hindi movies include Utsav and Godhuli
. A recently acclaimed movie by Karnad is Kanooru Heggaditi
, based on a novel by Kannada writer Kuvempu. Karnad has also acted in several other movies and received critical acclamation.
He has been criticised by the eminent Kannada novelist S.L. Bhairappa for being untrue to history in order to curry favor with the establishment.
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Other notable works
He has played the role of Karadi, the sootradhar (narrator), for several stories in the popular audiobook series for kids, Karadi Tales. He has also been the voice of APJ Abdul Kalam, President of India, in the audiobook of Kalam's autobiography by Charkha Audiobooks Wings of Fire.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Girish Karnad'.
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