Nostalgic Nuggets: Remembering Girish Karnad, a pioneer and a trendsetter

Modern Indian playwriting in Kannada is credited to him. Not only was he a literary personality, but he was also a big name in the theatre circuit of India with his plays translated into various Indian languages. From the 1970s, he was also seen in cinema from Kannada to Tamil to Hindi where one of his last roles was playing Salman Khan's boss in ' Ek Tha Tiger' in its sequel released in 2017.

Girish Karnad's (1938-2019) 82nd birth anniversary falls today. A recipient of various National and State-level awards for his variety of ventures, Karnad's background straddled various inter-connected sectors where he was given key positions to assume charge in the fields of music and dance also. He was also feted globally for his range of works in all these fields.

By virtue of his opinions, which were not always to the liking of his fans and supporters, he remained in the news now and then. An individual who believed in freedom of expression and anti-religious fundamentalism, he attracted a fair share of adverse publicity during his comments after the demolition of Babri Masjid. He was obviously disliked by the Right lobbies who did everything to counter him and paint him as a hypocritical secular.