Noted Actor, Jnanpith Awardee Girish Karnad Passes Away

Veteran actor, playwright, the multi-talented Girish Karnad has passed away this morning at his residence in Bengaluru. He was 81 years old. Karnad, who has been suffering from terminal illness for a long time, died due to multiple organ failure in the early morning hours today (June 10th).

Girish Karnad is a multi-faceted personality who began his career as a playwright in the Kannada language at an early age of 23 years. His first work was Yayati, and since then there was no looking back. Many of his plays have been translated in other Indian languages and also in English. For his work in the field, Karnad had been awarded Jnanpith, the highest honour for a writer in India.

In 1970, Girish Karnad made his acting debut with Kannada movie Samskara. It also marked his screenwriting debut. The movie won first National Award for A Regional Film category for a Kannada movie. A year later he made his directorial debut with Vamsha Vriksha. He won National Award for Best Direction for the movie.

Girish Karnad has been conferred with Padma Shri (1974), and Padma Bhushan (1992). He is also a Sahithya Academy Award winner. Apart from them, he has won multiple National Awards and Filmfare Awards.