Bengaluru: Noted actor, writer and playwright, Girish Karnad (81) passed away at a hospital in Bengaluru on Monday."Karnad died at home at around 8:30 a.m. due to age-related symptoms," an official in the Karnataka Chief Minister's office told

He is survived by his wife Saraswathi, son Raghu Karnad, a journalist and writer and daughter Radha, a doctor based in Kenya.

Education

Born in Maharashtra on May 19, 1938,he got his Bachelor's degree from the Karnataka University in 1958 and then proceeded on a fellowship to study at Oxford where he secured his M.A. degree in 1963. At Oxford, Karnad studied philosophy, politics, and economics.

Playwright

Karnad has written numerous plays in Kannada and is considered one of Kannada literature's foremost playwrights. His most famous include Yayti in 1961, Hayavadana in 1972 and Nagamandala in 1988. Tughlaq, a play he wrote in 1964, made Karnad a name to reckon with among playwrights in the country.

Awards

He was conferred the Padma Shri in 1974 and the Padma Bhushan in 1992 by the Indian government in recognition of his contributions to the field of arts and theatre. He received the Jnanpith Award in 1999 for his contributions to literature and theatre.

Acting career

Girish Karnad's acting and screenwriting debut came in 1970 in the National Award winning Kannada film- Samskara. A pan India actor he acted in several Kannada, Telugu, Tamil and in Hindi films. People also remembered him as Salman Khan's boss in Tiger Zinda Hai, which was also one of his last films that he acted in. He was also widely remembered for his role of Swami's father in the popular 80's TV series Malgudi based on RK Narayan's books.

Many from the theatre world have taken to Twitter to express their sorrow at the news of passing away who is remembered as a great writer and known for his activism and his fearless political voice.

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