Girish Karnad Birth Anniversary: Lesser-Known Facts About the Versatile Actor

GIRISH KARNAD BIRTH ANNIVERSARY: Girish Raghunath Karnad, also known as Girish Karnad is a renowned personality known for his multifaceted life. A popular face of Kannada cinema, he was a person with numerous accomplishments and interests. He was an actor, writer, playwright, actor, scholar, director, academician and Jnanpith Awardee. On his birth anniversary, let’s know about some of the interesting facts about him.

1. Girish Karnad was born 9 years before India’s independence on May 19, 1938, in Matheran, Maharashtra. He had once admitted that his mother thought of aborting him and she even visited the hospital. But destiny played its role and doctors seemed to abscond on the very day.
2. He was raised in a Konkani-speaking family. His father was a doctor and mother, a nurse. His father was posted to Sirsi, Karnataka and was an admirer of theatre. Girish was introduced to creative arts through his parents.
3. He pursued his graduation from Lincoln and Magdalen colleges in Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. He had a Master of Arts degree in philosophy, political science, and economics. He aspired to establish himself as a poet next to TS Eliot and settle in England
4. Girish wrote his first play Yayati before moving to England at the age of 22. When his play got published and attained enormous success, he decided to return to India.
5. He is one of the biggest contributors to the Sandalwood cinema.
6. The legendary actor marked the screenwriting and acting debut with Pattabhirama Reddy’s Samskara (1970). The film was inspired by a novel written by UR Ananthamurthy. It won the President’s Golden Lotus Award for Kannada Cinema (a true pride for the state).
7. He collaborated with Shankar Nag for the film Ondanondu Kaladalli (1978) and later went on to create a cult television series called Malgudi days. He also played the role of Swami’s father for the first eight episodes of Malgudi Days.
8. Girish voiced APJ Abdul Kalam in the audiobook of former president’s autobiography, Wings of Fire.
9. The legendary artist also acted in recent Hindi films such as Tiger Zinda Hai, Shivaay among others.
10. Besides Jnanapith Award, the highest literary award conferred in India, he was also awarded Padma Shri (1974), Padma Bhushan (1992).
11. He died on June 10, 2019 in Bengaluru at the age of 81 due to multiple organ failure following a prolonged illness.

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