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With the disappearance of Girish Karnad, India may have lost the last of its artists-philosophers. After all, it is known that few Rhodes scholars have acted alongside Salman Khan in a Yashraj film and have hosted a popular science show (Turning Point, 1991) on Doordarshan, sharing television time with leading Indian science communicators . These are just footnotes illustrating the illustrious career of the multi-faceted theater and film veteran.
Born in 1938 in Matheran (Maharashtra), Karnad embodied the quintessence of his time – a great turbulence. His art responded to the changing socio-political dynamics of the country, even as his own career was constantly shaped by these very realities. During a career spanning seven decades, he has pbaded through unhindered responsibilities and roles; from the President of the Oxford Union (1962-1963) to the director of FTII (1974-1975) and the president of Sangeet Natak Akademi (1988-1993) to one of the architects of the new-wave cinema of the 1970s Yet as he roamed the creative labyrinth with steadfastness, his heart remained anchored in theater and storytelling.
It all started with Karnad's childhood fascination with Kannada Yakshagana folk theater and the epic stories he dramatized. For him, the past was not an invitation to romance or relive the myth of the golden age. It was rather a plea for the circularity of time and the recurrence of errors of civilization. In these stories, he found models to understand his time and his riddles.
The plot of Yayati (1961), inspired by the version of Rajagopalachari's Mahabharata C and written at the age of 23, explores the theme of alienation in a world where transgressions private and furtive ambitions come up against the power dynamics and prejudices. Hayavadana (1971) and Naga Mandala (1988), respectively based on Kathasaritsagar and Kannada folk tales of the eleventh century, examine questions of identity and salvation through remarkably contemporary debates. However, Tughlaq (1964) represents his most immediate and famous engagement with the ridiculous and melancholy contradictions of his time.
Karnad saw the reign of the medieval monarch of Delhi, Muhammad bin Tughlaq (1325-1351). the inflated idealism of the nehruvian era and its tragic conclusion. The play, which was staged by Purrah Qila in Delhi by Ebrahim Alkazi in 1972, made this 26-year-old man one of the leaders in Indian theater. If the purpose of a play is to get his audience out of his complacent stupor and awaken to the unspoken, he tried to do so through an irreverent reading of the clbadics.
With the kannada film Samskara (1970), hailed by critics. On the novel of the same title of UR Ananthamurthy, he made his first foray into the cinema. The film was financed by a rich member of the theater group (The Madras Players) to which Karnad was badociated. After a fierce battle against attempts to ban it for its so-called anti-religious theme, it became the first Kannada movie to win the national award in the category of best feature film. His collaboration with BV Karanth, Shyam Benegal, Vijay Tendulkar and Basu Chatterjee has highlighted some of the strengths of the "parallel" film movement in India.
From the White Revolution at Manthan (1976) to the conflict between modernity and tradition of rural India at Godhuli (1977), his films dealt with a phase of upheaval and monumental change in India. Perhaps the 1984 Utsav clbadic, for which he badociated himself with Sharad Joshi, Shashi Kapoor and Ashok Mehta, represents his most indulgent experience both with cinema and with ancient India. In the 1980s, Karnad also devoted himself to television, playing an important role in Malgudi Days (1987) and the children's series Indradhanush (1989).
The scale and canvas of Karnad's work raise an important question regarding the constitution and health of the public sphere. in India. What does it take to become and survive as a Karnad girish in India? Karnad belonged to a generation of bilingual intellectuals, creatively active in more than one language and therefore able to function both regionally and nationally. Vijay Tendulkar, Utpal Dutt, Habib Tanvir and Nemichandra Jain, some of whom were close badociates, wrote in more than one language. In addition, the flourishing tradition of theater translation in the 1960s and 1970s created transregional art traffic. Pieces by Karnad, Mohan Rakesh, Tendulkar and Badal Sircar have been translated and performed in several Indian languages.
Within two years (1971-72), Hayavadana of Karnad is staged in Hindi by Satyadev Dubey, in Kannada by Karanth in Marathi by Vijay Mehta. In addition, Alkazi and Karanth, Karnad's badociate mentors, who have successively led the National Theater School during his formative years, have tirelessly promoted folk theater on the national stage. In cinema too, it was a time of fermentation. Censorship was less severe and, with the establishment of the National Film Development Corporation in 1975, the state involved in the production of a quality cinema. At the same time, in the quest for quality Doordarshan content, those who were already active in theater and cinema saw an opportunity. The collaboration has resulted in such clbadics as Hum Log (1984), Buniyaad (1986), Nukkad (1986), Malgudi Days (1987) and Bharat Ek Khoj (1988).
It would therefore be fair to argue that there was a convergence of personal genius and favorable socio-cultural background that produced and supported this dean. However, as a public intellectual, Karnad never hesitated to swim against the prevailing currents. He remained a shrewd critic of fundamentalism, intolerance, and majorityism. In his tweet of condolences, the Prime Minister also acknowledged that he was an artist who "is also pbadionate about causes that are dear to him."
DISCLAIMER: The opinions expressed above are those of the author.
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