Girish Karnad was 81. (Express archive photo)Actor-playwright Girish Karnad passed away on Monday morning at his residence in Bengaluru. He was 81.
Girish Karnad first achieved fame as a playwright in the early 1960s. His rise as a playwright in the 1960s marked the coming of age of modern Indian playwriting in Kannada. He later went on to dabble in cinema down south as well as in Bollywood.
Karnad was conferred with the Jnanpith Award in 1998 for his contribution to literature and arts. Karnad was also honoured with Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan by the government of India.
Born on May 19, 1938 in Maharashtra’s Matheran, Girish Karnad also translated his own plays into English, some of which later went on to be staged and directed by filmmakers such as Ebrahim Alkazi, B V Karanth, Alyque Padamsee, Prasanna and Arvind Gaur among others.
Karnad’s last directorial was the Kannada film Apna Desh, which is slated for release this August. His last Hindi movie as an actor was 2017’s Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif starrer Tiger Zinda Hai, wherein he essayed the role of RAW Chief Dr Shenoy.
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Girish Karnad is survived by his wife Dr Saraswathy Ganapathy and their two children.
More details awaited.
