Girish Karnad to be honoured with Lifetime Achievement Award at upcoming literature festival

Veteran actor and playwright Girish Karnad is all set to be honoured by Tata Literature Live! Lifetime Achievement Award 2017. The award will be presented to Karnad, 79, at the literature festivals annual awards ceremony which will be held on 19 November at the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA), Nariman Point. [caption id=“attachment_4185859” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Girish Karnad. Image from Twitter/@BagriFoundation[/caption] The veteran actor said it is an honour for him to receive the award as a playwright. “What makes theatre such an intricate world, a febrile network of human relationships woven in words, and this is why when, at the end of it all, one is told that one has succeeded, it is such an exhilarating experience. “This is why when the Tata Literature Live! honours me as a playwright, I feel enveloped by the warmth rolling in wave after wave - from across languages, cultures, and even from bygone generations - saying to me, Well done! What more could one want? This is the moment a playwright lives for,” Karnad said in a statement. His critically acclaimed plays in the era of 1960s such as Yayati (1961), the historical Tughlaq (1964), and his three seminal works Hayavadana (1971), Naga-mandala (1988) and Taledanda (1990) have earned international praise. Karnad is also a recipient of Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan awards. Anil Dharker, founder-director of Literature Live!, said the organisation is thrilled to honour the veteran theatre artiste. “His work, that marked the coming of age of modern Indian playwriting in the 60s has significantly helped shape and enhance the Indian art and literature universe. We are looking forward to having him with us at the festival,” he said. Harish Bhat, brand custodian, Tata Sons called Karnad “a giant of our generation, with memorable and influential contributions as playwright, writer, actor and director”. Past recipients of the Tata Literature Live! Lifetime Achievement Award include legendary writers Amitav Ghosh (2016), Kiran Nagarkar (2015), MT Vasudevan Nair (2014), Khushwant Singh (2013), VS Naipaul (2012) and Mahashweta Devi (2011). The festival runs from 16-19 November.