Girish Karnad can be termed as a multi-linguistic talent from India, who gave Kannada a special place in the international forums. He along with writer Dr U R Ananthamurthy popularised Kannada write-ups, stories and plays at global level. Even today, international writers respect Kannada writings, all thanks to the works of Karnad.
Karnad was a lead actor in the movie ‘Sanskar’, a controversial novel by U R Ananthamurthy, which raised questions over Brahminical values in those days. Another lead role in the movie was played by writer P Lankesh.
Before he entered into the movie field, Karnad was instrumental in conducting plays in Dharwad. When he started writing plays, he threw open a new world of history and mythology to modern readers. Most of his writings were based on these two themes. He even tried to write his own plays, but they did not become as popular as his other writings.
Karnad’s plays were translated into most of the languages. During 1996, we had organised a week-long Karnad’s Play Festival in Belagavi, which had got great response from audiences. In fact, Karnad himself had come down to inaugurate the festival. During 2000, myself along with Girish Karnad and U R Ananthamurthy were chosen by the Government of Karnataka to lead a delegation from the state to attend the World Kannada Meet held in Huston in USA.
Many are not aware that Girish did his masters in Mathematics. His interest in theatre made him write wonderful plays for the Kannada literature. Through his writings, he brought universal respect for Kannada. We used to call him as Satyajit Ray of Karnataka as in some of the pictures, he resembled the great director from West Bengal.
During his last years he was criticised for his views over some issues. He never cared for anyone and did what he felt right. He had some respiratory issues and had to carry oxygen with him all the time. The Kannada literary world has lost of its brightest starts.
(The author is a journalist and friend of Girish Karnad)