Indian cinema has witnessed several playwrights who have transformed the vision of storytelling. Today, we are going to tell you about one such celebrated actor-director-writer who has delivered a range of critically acclaimed movies and earned numerous accolades for his contributions to the arts and theatre.
We are talking about Girish Karnad, who was born on May 19, 1938, in Maharashtra. He was renowned as a playwright and wrote plays in the Kannada language, which were later translated into English. His plays were highly influenced by the Renaissance in Western literature.
For those who don't know, he made his acting and screenplay debut with the 1970 film 'Samskara'. The film was directed by Pattabhi Rama Reddy and features Girish Karnad, Snehalata Reddy and P Lankesh in the lead roles. He was also featured in the famous television series 'Malgudi Days' where he played the role of Swami's father.
Girish was also known for his performance in films like 'Ek Tha Tiger' and 'Tiger Zinda Hai', where he played the role of 'Shenoy'. However, his known written works include 'Ondanondu Kaladalli' and 'Godhuli', among others. He also starred in films like 'Nishant', 'Manthan', 'Swami', 'Sampark', 'Teri Kasam', 'Ananda Bhairavi', 'Zamana', 'Sur Sangam', 'Cheluvi', 'Prathyartha' and others.
In recognition of his contributions, he was honoured with Padma Shri in 1974 and received Padma Bhushan in 1992 for his contributions to the arts and theatre. He even won the National Film Award for 'Bhumika' in the Best Screenplay category. The film was directed by Shyam Benegal and features Smita Patil, Anant Nag and Naseeruddin Shah in the lead roles.
Veteran actor-director-writer Girish Karnad passed away on June 10, 2019, at the age of 81 in Bengaluru. Veteran actor-director is survived by his wife, Saraswathy Ganapathy and two children.
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