Girish Karnad

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Girish Raghunath Karnad
OccupationPlaywright, Film Director, Actor, Poet
NationalityIndia
GenreFiction
Literary movementNavya
Notable worksTughalak 1964

Girish Raghunath Karnad (Kannada: ಗಿರೀಶ್ ರಘುನಾಥ ಕಾರ್ನಾಡ್) (born 19 May 1938) is a contemporary writer, playwright, actor and movie director in Kannada language. He is the latest of seven recipients[1] 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.[2]

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.

Career

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 are 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. [1]

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 reading

  • Jaydipsinh Dodiya, Plays of Girish Karnad

Awards and honors

For literature

For movies

  • President's Golden Lotus for the Best Indian film for "Samskara" - 1970
  • National Award for Excellence in Direction for "VamshaVruksha"(Shared with B.V. Karanth) - 1972
  • National Award for the Best Script for "Bhumika" - 1978
  • Golden Lotus for the Best Non-Feature Film for "Kanaka Purandara" - 1989
  • Karnataka State Award for the Best Supporting Actor in "Santa Shishunala Shareef" - 1991
  • FilmFare Award for Best Script for Godhuli(shared with B.V. Karanth) - 1979
  • Mysore State Award for Best Kannada film and the Best Direction for VamshaVruksha - 1972
  • Gubbi Veeranna Award
  • Filmfare Nominations as Best Supporting Actor for Aasha (1980) and Teri Kasam (1982)

He also served as the director of the Film and Television Institute of India from 1974-1975, the Indian co-chairman for the Joint Media Committee of the Indo-US Sub-Commission on Education and Culture from 1984-1993, chairman of the Sangeet Natak Academy from 1988-1993, and president of Karnataka Nataka Academy from 1976-1978.

Bibliography

Plays

  • Tughlaq

(translated in Hindustani by B.V.Karanth.Major Indian Directors who stage it-E.Alkaji,Prasanna, Arvind Gaur & Dinesh Thakur

  • Hayavadana
  • Nagamandala
  • Bali
  • Agni mattu Male (The Fire and the Rain),First Directed by Prasanna for NSD Rep.
  • Odakalu Bimba
  • Yayaathi
  • Anjumallige
  • Maa Nishaadha
  • Tippuvina Kanasugalu (The Dreams of Tipu Sultan)
  • '''Taledanda''',In Hindi its known as Rakt-Kalyan translated by Ram Gopal Bajaj ,first directed by E.Alkaji for NSD rep.,then by Arvind Gaur(1995-2008,still running)for Asmita Theater Group,New Delhi.
  • Hittina Hunja

Karnad's works in visual media

Movies

  • Manthan
  • Nagamandala
  • Agni mattu Male, made into a Hindi movie titled Agnivarsha
  • Umbartha (Marathi, with Smita Patil)
  • Man Pasand
  • Iqbal

Movies directed by Girish Karnad

  • Utsav in Hindi
  • Samskara in Kannada. He got a National Award for best direction.
  • Ondanaondu Kaaladalli in Kannada
  • Anand Bhairavi in both Kannada and Telugu
  • Kanooru Heggadathi in Kannada
  • Woh Ghar, based on Kirtinath Kurtakoti's Kannada play Aa Mani
  • Kaadu in Kannada
  • Cheluvi in Kannada
  • Durga in Mahendar

Play Reviews

'RAKT- KALYAN (Tale Danda)'CRITICS SAY Girish wrote the play in 1989 when the mandir and masjid movements were beginning to show how relevant the questions posed in the 12th century are Today. The anger of society, unwilling to abandon the safety net of the caste system , turns to frenzy when a brahmin sharana girl is married to a chamar sharana boy. They are lynched and kalyan is rift with war cries... Gaur repeated his Tughlaq technique. Bare sets, symbolic costumes, letting words and characters hold the reins of dramatic power... Bright scenes of lucid argument... house was packed and very responsive. -Kavita Nagpal ( Hindustan Times)

Among the best things that happened to the Indian theatre in the recent times is the creation of Kannada play, Rakt Kalyan , by Girish karnad. Arvind Gaur, the director knew the strength of the play lay in its excellent script and an equally brilliant translation, of it, into Hindi by Ramgopal Bajaj.Arvind Gaur's main achievement was his deep understanding of the nuances of the play and his impeccable sense of choreography, which was well effected, especially during the crowd scenes .What is more, he used the basement space very imaginatively...Rakt- Kalyan owes its greatness to the fact that it does not unnecessarily attempt to politicize the issue and for good reasons. Although any attempt to bring about social reformation does inevitably throw up certain political challenges it is the existing socio-religious turmoil that creates the biggest impediment and the irony is that in such circumstances, the inherent Contradictions within a social structure come in to the play. Emotion supersedes reason which consequently hurts the cause...Watching Asmita's Rakt Kalyan... became apparent that lack of resources need not come in the way of good presentation, given the dedication and commitment of the actors and the director. -V M Badola (The Pioneer)

Girish Karnad's "Rakt Kalyan" is a superb play, which well illustrates how man has not learnt from history... it is remarkable for Gaur's handling of large crowd scenes...and for underlining the relevance of the play set in 12th century in south India to the present day socio-political atmosphere in the country...like asmita's earlier productions "Rakt Kalyan" is mounted on a bare stage without The frills of period costumes with emphasis on the socio-political relevance of the play and in this production succeeds admirably -Romesh chander(The Hindu)

Play is a complex and incisive investigation of an actual historical experiment in social reordering and its tragic failure on the individual as well as the collective level ...Asmita's Rakt Kalyan endeavors to foreground the play's political implications particularly in relation to caste ...interesting piece of theatre…it is remarkable for director Arvind Gaur's skillful handling of the large cast in terms of blocking and movement. - Javed malik (Times of India)

Asmita's "Rakt kalyan" is relevant...credible achievement by Asmita...with large cast of about 30 artists, the play is marked by excellent teamwork, a steady pace and some beautiful musical interludes chosen especially according to the mood of the scene...direction by Arvind Gaur was indeed applaudable. - Kasturika Mishra (Sunday Herald)

Meaningful study of the tenuous link between religions as masses understand them and human tolerance...a mirror to the irrationality and grave consequences of such polarization and leaderless agitation’s in society. -Ashish Sharma (Indian Expess)

Asmita sworn to bring the classics to the common masses. Refreshingly uncomplicated, their productions question and tease the sanctity of plays that many directors fear to touch... an impressive play. -Smita Nirula (H.T)

Rakt Kalyan against terrorism...tight creative direction...artistic, powerful,effective design -Jagmohan (Danik Hindustan, Hindi))

Spotlight on caste conflict... caste system, religious biases,political maneuverings for selfish ends are the betes noires of Indian politics and Society. The Mandir Msjid controversy aggravated in the late 1990s inspiring Dr Girish Karnad to script 'tale danda' meaning " death by beheading"...the achievements of the theatre enthusiasts of ASMITA lies in posing meaningful questions shaking the innerpsyche of audiences forcing them to search and Strive for answers... Ram Gopal Bajaj's translation retained the blend of local dialect Sanskritised text while capturing the conflicting issues. -Sushma Chadha (The H. T.)

A quiet kranti ...the mountain is potent with still, silent drama. It stands resonant with history it has witnessed. Sometimes it erupts, spewing up lava of long suffering. The parallel with human script and mass psyche is unavoidable. If Theatre manages to present a microcosmic replica of this phenomenon; it has managed to produce a classic... Director Arvind Gaur radically avant-garde concepts return the stage to the actor. Not flashy sets but a great strength of stillness, silent figures, characterization and speech. -Aruna Ahluwalia(Evening news)

An Asmita presentation Rakt Kalyan under the vigorous directorial venture of Arvind Gaur is a powerful and timely response of the prevailing caste-tensions and religion-political turmoil’s in the country. -Rashtriya Sahara

Personal life

Karnad is married to Dr. Saraswathy Ganapathy and they have two children Shalmali Radha and Raghu Amay.[3]

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ "Jnanapeeth Awards". Ekavi. Retrieved 2006-10-31.
  2. ^ "Conversation with Girish Karnad". Bhargavi Rao on Muse India. Muse India. Retrieved 2007-07-11.
  3. ^ http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl1603/16031170.htm

External links

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