Girish Karnad (1938 - 2019)
Girish Raghunath Karnad was born on May 19, 1938 in Matheran, Bombay Presidency (now Maharashtra), India to middle-class parents. He was an Indian actor, film director, and Kannada writer. He won the Jnanpith Award for Kannada.
he was born into a Konkani-speaking family. His early education was in Marathi. As a youngster, Karnad was an ardent admirer of Yakshagana and the theatre in his village.
In 1958, he received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Karnataka University in Dharwad.
Karnad is well known as a playwright. His Kannada-language plays have been widely translated into English and all major Indian languages.
His debut play, "Yayati" (1961), mocks life's ironies through characters from the Mahabharata and was an instant hit, being translated and presented in numerous other Indian languages.
Karnad's best-known drama, "Tughlaq" (1964), established him as one of the country's most promising playwrights. Dr. Bhargavi P Rao has translated several of his Kannada plays.
Having since moved back to India from England, Karnad made his foray into the film world in 1970 with Samskara, writing the screenplay and playing the lead role. That film won the Golden Lotus Award, the national prize for Kannada cinema. Even as he worked in film, he kept writing plays, such as Hayavadana (1971), Nagamandala (1988), and Agni Mattu Male (1995), and created a one-act radio drama, Ma Nisada (1964).
Girish Karnad died on June 10th, 2019. He was 81 years old and had been sick for a few days.
His Guardian obituary states, “A secularist who condemned the rise of nationalism in India, he took advantage of his position to campaign for the rights of the LGBT community, women, the Dalit caste and religious minorities.
Important Works :
Yayati (1961)
Tughlaq (1964)
Hayavadana (1971)
The Sacrifice (1980)
Nagamandala (1988)
Taledanda (1990)
The Fire and the Rain (1995)
A heap of Broken Images (2006)
Flowers (2012)
Hayavadana
Girish Karnad's Hayavadana (Horse Face) is a 1971 Indian Kannada language two-act play. The plot is based on the retelling of Transposed Heads by Brhatkath and Thomas Mann. Nagamandala (1988) is a twin play. Hayavadana follows two friends, Devdutta and Kapila, and their love interest, Padmini.
Characters
Bhagwata - the main narrator of the play
Devdutta - One of the two friends, A man of knowledge
Kapila - Devdutta's Friend, A man with great physical strength
Padmini - A beautiful woman, love interest of the two friends
Hayavadana - A strange creature with the Head of a Horse and body of a man
Actor-1 - An assistant to Bhagwata
Goddess Kali - the Goddess who brings Devdutta and Kapila back to life.
The Boy - Son of Devdutta and Padmini
Vidyasagar (only referenced) - Devdutta's father
