40awakened the artist in himself to reincarnate as a
renaissance man. Karnad successfully weaved the
traditional myths, folklore and history with con-
temporaneity to produce a rich tapestry of plays
embedded with social anxiety and criticism.
The energetic persona of Karnad was inevitable
for post-independent India to fulfil its dreams in-
scribed in the constitution. And he was respon-
sible for revitalizing Indian dreams through his
plays and cultural engagements in the 1960s. As
he wrote in Yayati, “You can walk a path without
light. How can I walk one without dreams?” In an
era of disillusionment and turmoil, Karnad’s rep-
ertoire invoked hopes of a better world through
the pointed critique of normalized social corrup-
tions. Imbued with a modern vision, Karnad’s
plays questioned societal norms and traditions
and transformed the Kannada theatre from dog-
matism. Even though having a strong command
over English, Karnad pursued his literary inter-
ests in Kannada similar to K V Puttappa aka Ku-
vempu.
Karnad’s plays, written in Kannada, soon gained
wider acceptance outside Karnataka and trans-
lated and performed in other languages. Karnad
designed his characters to carry his questions re-
latable to social life and placed them in bemusing
situations. The uncertainties and disillusionment
of the 1960s and 70s became the struggles and
crises in his plays, which interplays with myths
and histories. His first play Yayati born out of his
resentment from his parents’ disapproval to pur-
sue his studies at Oxford. Drawing on the myth
of Yayati, who exchanged his old age with his
son, Karnad’s Yayati reflects his existential anxi-
ety and resentment on demand to sacrifice his
future.
Karnad engaged in a transgeneric practice to
transpose mythical, historical and folk narratives
into drama with the production of a new aesthet-
ic convention. His second play Tughlaq, written
in 1964, subtly alluded the cynicism of the 1960s
and failure of pre-independent idealism in the
backdrop of the history of Muhammad bin Tu-
ghlaq who ruled Delhi in the 14th century. Folk
tales ground his Hayavadana (1971), and Naga-
mandala (1988 ) which raised serious questions
about identity, beauty, sexuality, love and female
emancipation. His works endorsed radicality at a
period when the promises of Indian independ-
ence raised scepticism among the public. His
plays were widely translated and adopted into
other Indian languages and directed by eminent
directors like Ebrahim Alkazi, Vijaya Mehta and
Manohar Singh. Being a part of the new wave in
Indian theatre, Karnad’s plays reflected the rural
and rustic life unlike the urban worries and lives
featured in the plays of his contemporaries.
The uniqueness in his style made his plays uni-
versal and popular. Karnad himself acknowl-
edges the contemporaneity of his plays; he says
“The point about a play is that it cannot simply
be about its own time. Tughlaq is not just about
Nehru. Every audience interprets a play accord-
ing to his sense of reality.”
His engagement with the film world was event-
ful in creating a new aesthetics through parallel
film movements. Debuted with Samskara as a
scriptwriter and actor, Karnad went on to act and
direct films in diverse genres. Samskara, based
on U R Ananthamurthy’s novel fetched best fea-
ture film award at the National Film Awards and
President’s Golden Lotus Award for Kannada
film that year.
His companionship with U R Ananthamurthy
was phenomenal in developing a new progressive
culture in thought and consciousness in Karnata-
ka against caste and other exploitations. Karnad
was responsible for redefining and reviving the
aesthetics of Kannada films through his scripts,
direction and acting in the parallel cinema.
Apart from being a playwright, writer, filmmaker
and actor, Karnad proved his mettle as an able
administrator. In his multifaceted life, he held the
directorship and chairmanship of FTII, chair of
Sangeet Natak Academy and director of Nehru
Centre in London. His versatility and privileges
did not prevent him from shying away from the
Student Struggle | June - July 2019