BENGALURU: His documentary on Karnad took the internet by storm. For director KM Chaitanya, his association with Karnad began back in 1996 when he travelled to Mumbai, fresh out of university, in search of a job.
Chaitanya’s father, K Maralasiddappa, was acquainted with Karnad and Chaitanya was offered the role of an assistant director when he went to meet Karnad. “We did two television serials together and then a feature film Kanooru Heggadathi,” Chaitanya said.
When Karnad won the Jnanapeetha award, Chaitanya was asked to fill in for him as director. He was only 23 years old. “Karnad was a mathematics student from Oxford. He brought an unmatched rigour in the structure of his plays. There was great ideological clarity which he interpreted for modern India,” Chaitanya said while taking the example of Tughlaq.