From being Swami’s father in the famous TV series Malgudi Days to the spy handler in the Salman Khan’s Tiger franchise, veteran actor Girish Karnad would always be remembered for his stellar trendsetting performances in Hindi television serials and films.
In Ek Tha Tiger (2012) and Tiger Zinda Hai (2017), featuring Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif, Karnad essayed the role of Dr Shenoy, the chief of India’s intelligence agency.
While the first Yash Raj Films’ spy-thriller Tiger franchise was directed by Kabir Khan, the second was one by Ali Abbas Zafar. “It is a great loss, not only to us but to the entire film industry and the entire nation. He was a thorough gentleman, so knowledgeable — writer, director, actor and a very warm person,” said Ali. In fact, he could have featured in the triquel too. But destiny had different plans.
In the good old days of Doordarshan, Girish Karnad was a part of Malgudi Days and Indradhanush, where he essayed Swami’s father, and Krishnamurthy Appuswamy, protagonist’s father respectively. Malgudi Days was a work of K R Narayan and directed by late Kannada actor and director Shankar Nag. On the other hand, Indradhanush featured several young actors like Karan Johar, Urmila Matondkar, Vishal Singh, Ashutosh Gowarikar, and Akshay Anand
Dr Karnad also presented Doordarshan’s science show ‘Turning Point’.
Some of his superb performances in Hindi cinema are in ‘Manthan’, ‘Nishant’, ‘Pukar’, ‘Iqbal’, ‘Dor’.
Nishant (1975), directed by Shyam Benegal, was based on an original screenplay by noted playwright Vijay Tendulkar, with dialogues by Satyadev Dubey. The cast besides him includes Shabana Azmi, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Naseeruddin Shah, Smita Patil, Anant Nag, Mohan Agashe among others.
Shyam Benegal’s Manthan (1976) was inspired by the pioneering milk cooperative movement of Verghese Kurien, and was written jointly by him and the late Vijay Tendulkar.
Shabana Azmi, her co-star and a personal friend tweeted: “Deeply saddened to learn about #Girish Karnad. Havent yet been able to speak with his family. Its been a friendship of 43 years and I need the privacy to mourn him. I request the media to kindly excuse me from giving quotes.”
Anil Kapoor recalled his first encounter with Girish Karnad when the playwright was the director of the FTII in Pune. They later co-starred in 2000 film Pukar. “I met Girish Karnad way back when he was the principal of the film institute & then worked with him in Pukar. He was a great man & playwright. His stories will forever remain in our hearts & minds. Sending my prayers & heartfelt condolences to his family,” Mr India-fame actor said.
Filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar wrote, “Deeply saddened by the news of the demise of Girsh Karnad ji. He will be remembered for his work as a Theater personality, film actor, and director. My deepest condolences to his family, friends & fans. #OmShanti.”