ofjKFm'H'iwo Girish Karnad As a Playwright Girish Karnad was born on IQ**^ May 1938 in Matheran, a hill station near Mumbai. His father, Mr. Raghunath Karnad, was a Medical Officer in the Sassoon Hospital, Pune. Karnad was first admitted to Tarabai Modak School and later on he joined Modern High School, Pune. The members of his family speak Marathi though their mother tongue is Kannada. Girish speaks more than five languages. As a child, he listened to fairy tales and stories from the Puranas. His parents were fond of drama. In his village, Sirsi, in the Western Ghats of Karnataka State, strolling group of players called Natak Mandalies or Natak Companies would arrive, set up a stage, present a few plays for a couple of months and then move on to other villages. That was in the late 1940s. Karnad got an opportunity to watch a number of traditional Yakshagana performances when he was very young. His father saw an Urdu version of Othello in 1905 and introduced Girish to Urdu plays. His mother sometimes imitated the acting of Balagandharva at home. Karnad's encounter with the Natak Mandalies at an early age made an everlasting impression on his mind. During his school days, he acted in Kannada plays. He loved farcical plays in those days. Initially, it was his desire to be a poet. During his teens, he wrote poetry in Kannada and English. After his high school education, Karnad joined Karnataka University, Dharwad in 1953. During his college life, he was intensely impressed by the late A. K. Ramanujan, the well-known Indian poet. He taught Karnad the art of literary 52 writing and structure of poetry. He made an indelible impact on Karnad's literary career. Karnad dedicated his play Naga- Mandala to A.K. Ramanujan. When Karnad was the Manager of Oxford University Press, Madras, during 1963-1970, he published a volume of A. K. Ramanujan's poems. Another person who influenced Karnad was Prof. K. G. Shah who taught him Philosophy at Dharwad University. Girish Karnad ranked first in the University at his B. A. examination held in 1958. His special subjects were Mathematics and Statistics. During his college days, Girish acted in the Marathi plays Sharada by G. B. Deval and Amaldar by P. L. Deshpande. Karnad came to Mumbai to complete his Postgraduation. He was selected as Dakshina Fellow for his M.A. in the Department of Statistics, University of Bombay during 1958-59. During his stay in Mumbai he watched many English, Marathi and Hindi plays. He was amazed to see Strindberg's Miss Julie directed by the brilliant young Ebrahim Alkazi. About the performance, Karnad ( 1999:22 ) says : fVhat impressed me as much as the psychological cannibalism of the play was the way lights faded in and out on stage with the instruments called dimmers. That evening...! decided to be a playwright. In 1960 he received the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship which enabled him to go to England to complete his Master's degree. During his stay at Magdalen College, Oxford, Karnad took interest in arts and cultural activities. He saw many plays in England and got fully acquainted with the theatre. He completed his postgraduation with Philosophy, 53 Politics and Economics as primary subjects. He returned to India in 1963 and joined Oxford University Press, Chennai, as its Assistant Manager and then its Manager till 1970. The job gave him an opportunity to read various kinds of writings. Girish Karnad was awarded the Homi Bhabha Fellowship in 1970-72 for his creative work in folk theatre. He resigned from Oxford University Press and devoted himself to drama and films. He was the Director of the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune during 1974-75. He was awarded Padmashree in 1974 by the President of India. He was the President of Karnataka Natak Academy during 1976-1978. He was the Indian Co-Chairman, Joint Media Committee (for Film, Broadcasting and Press ) of the Indo-U.S. Sub-Commission of Education and Culture during 1984-1993. In 1987 he went to the U. S. A. as Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence at the Department of South Asian Languages and Civilisations, University of Chicago. From 1988-1993 he was the Chairman of the Sangeet Natak Academy ( National Academy for Performing Arts ), New Delhi. He was awarded Padmabhushan in 1992 by the President of India. In 1994 he was honoured with the Doctor of Letters degree by the Karnataka University, Dharwad. A special honour was conferred on him by the Karnataka Sahitya Academy in 1994. He was honoured with Kalidas Sanman by the Government of Madhya Pradesh. He presided over the seventieth Marathi Sahitya Sammelan on 3""^ January, 1997 at Ahmednagar. In 1999 he received the highest Jnanpith Award for his outstanding career. He is the Director of the 54 Nehru Centre, London. Karnad's dramatic career was prominently influenced by William Shakespeare, G. B. Shaw, Anton Chekov, Henrik Ibsen, Bertolt Brecht, Louis Pirandelo, Albert Camus, Jean Paul Sartre, Eugene O'Neill, Harold Pinter, Samuel Beckett and many others. He has acquianted himself with Marathi writers like Vibhavari Shirurkar, Nath Madhav, Vijay Tendulkar, N. ^'•^. Phadke, V. S. Khandekar, P. L. Deshpande and many others. At present he lives in Bangalore with his wife Dr. Saraswati Ganapathi, daughter Shalmali Radha and son Raghu Amay. Karnad has written and published nine plays in Kannada : Yayati ( 1961 ), Tughlaq ( 1964 ), Hayavadana (1971), Angumalige ( 1977 ), Hittina Hunia ( 1980 ), Naga- Mandala (1988), Tale-Panda ( 1989 ), Agni Mattu Male ( 1994 ) and The Dreams Of Tipu Sultan ( 1999 ). His first play Yayati won the 'Mysore State Award' in 1962, 'Government of Mysore Rajyotsva Award' in 1970 and the 'Sangeet Natak Akademi Award' in 1971. His second play, Tughlaq has been translated into Hungarian and German. A radio play of Tughlaq was broadcast by the B. B. C, London, in 1979. It was performed in English in London in 1982. A German version of the play was staged at Henschelverlag, Berlin in 1989. His play Tughlaq received 'Sangeet Natak Academy Award.' His third play Hayavadana which was translated into German was staged in 1998. The B. B. C. broadcast the play in 1993. It was performed at Weimar in 1984 and in New York in 1993 under the title Divided Together. 55 It was directed by B.V.Karantha in Australia in 1986. The play won The Natya Sangh Award' in 1971 being adjudged the best play. It also won 'Kamala Devi Chatopadhyaya Award' of the Bharatiya Natya Sangh for the Best Indian play of the year 1972. A German version of his play Naga-Mandala was performed in 1992. The play was staged at the University Theatre, Chicago by Guthri Theatre Minneapolis, in 1993. It won 'Karnataka Sahitya Academy Award' for the best play in 1989. The play also won 'Nandikar Award,' in 1989, His play Tale-Panda won the 'Karnataka Natak Academy Award' for the best play of the year 1990-91, 'Book Sellers and Publishers Association of South Indian Award' 1992, 'B. H. Shridhar Award' for the best play in 1992, 'Karnataka Sahitya Academy Award 1993', 'Sahitya Academi { National Academy of the Letters ) Award' in 1994. Karnad was honoured as The Writer of the Year for the play Tale- Panda in 1990 by Granthloka, journal of the Book Trade. He won the 'President's Gold Medal' for script, dialogue writing and lead role, in Samskara, ( Kannada ) which also won the 'Best Indian Film Award' in 1970. Karnad won The National Award' for excellence in direction, script writing and acting in Vansh-Vriksha ( Kannada ). He shared the award with B.V. Karantha in 1972. He also won 'Mysore State Award' for the best Kannada Film and for the best direction of the movie in 1972. His Kaadu ( Kannada ) movie won the 'President's Silver Medal' for the second best Indian Film in 1974. Kaadu represented India at the International Film 56 Festival, New Delhi in 1975. It was chosen for the Festival of Indian Films at the National Film Theatre, London in 1975 and for the Sydney Film Festival in 1975. The movie represented New Indian Cinema at the Festival des Trois Continents at Nantes, France. The film was also screened as one representing Indian film at the Museum of Modern Arts, New York in 1981. His Hindi film Godhuli won the 'Film Fare Award' for the best script and direction in 1978. His Kannada film Ondanandu Kaaladalli won the 'National Award' for the Kannada Film in 1978 for story, script writing and direction. The movie represented India at the International Film Festival, New Delhi in 1979. It was screened at the London Film Festival in 1979 and at the Film India Museum of Modern Arts, New Delhi in 1981. He wrote the script and directed the Hindi movie Utsav. The film was included in the London Film Festival in 1989 and Filmex, Los Angeles and also at Toronto Film Festival in 1987. Karnad directed a Hindi Film Woh Ghar in 1986. His Hindi film Cheluvi won the 'National Award' for the best film on Environmental Conservation in 1993. A show was performed at The London Film Festival. The film was screened at the Festival des Trois Continents Nantes, France in 1993, and also at Gateberg Film Festival, Sweden in 1994. His Hindi Film Swami gave him the West Bengal Film Journalists Association Award' for the best actor of the year in 1978. He was adjudged the best supporting actor for his role in Santa Shishunala, Shareef (a Kannada film ) by Karnataka State Government in 1991. He 4: • •- ys 57 ^Jl won the 'National Award' for the best script writing for Bhumika.