Interesting Facts and Figures: Girish Karnad

Girish Raghunath Karnad (born 19 May 1938) is a contemporary writer, playwright, actor and movie director in Kannada language.

He is the latest of seven recipients of Jnanpith Award for Kannada, the highest literary honor 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

His Hindi movies include Utsav, Godhuliand the recent Pukar.

A recently acclaimed movie by Karnad is Kanooru Heggaditi, based on a novel by Kannada writer Kuvempu.

His role of the ruthless cricket coach too got him critical acclaim in IQBAL written brilliantly by Vipul K Rawal

He recently acted in the movie called 8*10 tasveer, with lead actor Akshay kumar

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.

--SAMPURN