Babukodi Venkataramana Karanth (19 September 1929 – 1 September 2002) widely known as B. V. Karanth was an Indian film director, playwright, actor, screenwriter, composer, and dramatist known for his works in the Kannada theatre,

Kannada cinema Kannada cinema, also known as Sandalwood, or Chandanavana, is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Kannada language widely spoken in the state of Karnataka. Kannada cinema is based in Gandhi Nagar ...

, and

Hindi cinema Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...

. One of the pioneers of the

Parallel Cinema Parallel cinema, or New Indian Cinema, is a film movement in Cinema of India, Indian cinema that originated in the state of West Bengal in the 1950s as an alternative to the mainstream commercial Indian cinema. Inspired by Italian Neorealism, ...

, Karanth was an alumnus of the

National School of Drama National School of Drama (NSD) is a drama school situated at New Delhi, India. It is an autonomous organization under Ministry of Culture, Government of India. It was set up in 1959 by the Sangeet Natak Akademi and became an independent school ...

(1962) and later, its director. He received the

Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (IAST: Saṅgīta Nāṭaka Akādamī Puraskāra), also known as the Akademi Puraskar, is an award given by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy of Music, Dance & Drama. It is the highest Indian recogni ...

(1976), six

National Film Awards The National Film Awards are awards for artistic and technical merit given for "Excellence within the Cinema of India, Indian film industry". Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India ...

, and the civilian honor

Padma Shri The Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī'', lit. 'Lotus Honour'), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. In ...

for his contributions towards the field of art.

Biography

Born into a Kannada speaking family of Manchi, a village near Babukodi in

Bantwal taluk Bantwal taluk is a taluk of Dakshina Kannada district. The headquarters is the town of Bantwal, an eastern suburb of Mangalore. Prior to 1852, Bantwal Taluk was the largest taluk in the entire of Kanara, Canara Province (then comprising North ...

of Dakshina Kannada district in 1929, Karanth's passion for theatre started at an early age. His first tryst with theatre was when he was in standard III – he acted in ''Nanna Gopala'', a play directed by P.K. Narayana. He then ran away from home and joined the legendary Gubbi Veeranna drama company where he worked alongside Rajkumar who also was starting out then as a novice.

Gubbi Veeranna Gubbi Hampanna Veeranna (1891 – 1972) was an Indian theatre director. He was one of the pioneers and most prolific contributors to Kannada theatre. He established the drama company, ''Gubbi Sree Channabasaveshwara Nataka Company'', which play ...

sent Karanth to

Banaras Varanasi (, also Benares, Banaras ) or Kashi, is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world.* * * * The city has a syncretic tradition of I ...

to gain a Master of Arts degree, where he also underwent training in

Hindustani music Hindustani classical music is the Indian classical music, classical music of the Indian subcontinent's northern regions. It may also be called North Indian classical music or ''Uttar Bhartiya shastriya sangeet''. The term ''shastriya sangeet'' ...

under Guru Omkarnath Thakur. Thereafter, along with his wife,

Prema Karanth Prema Karanth (15 August 1936 – 29 October 2007) was an Indian theatre personality and the first-ever woman film-maker of Kannada cinema. She was the wife of B. V. Karanth and was known for the children's plays that she staged. She became the ...

, Karanth set up "Benaka", one of Bangalore's oldest theatre groups. It is an acronym for Bengalooru Nagara Kalavidaru. Then, Prema took up a teaching job in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

and supported Karanth through the

. He was to return the compliment after he graduated from the NSD, and eventually became its director. He later graduated from the

(NSD), New Delhi, in 1962, then headed by

Ebrahim Alkazi Ebrahim Alkazi (18 October 1925 – 4 August 2020) was a Saudi Indian theatre director and drama teacher. A rigid disciplinarian, he instilled in his acting students an awe and reverence that they still carry with them, with several of them ...

. Between 1969 and 1972, he worked as a drama instructor at the

Sardar Patel Vidyalaya Sardar Patel Vidyalaya (SPV) is an education school located in Lodi Estate, New Delhi, India. The school is named after a leader of the Indian independence movement, and independent India's first Home Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, Sardar ...

, New Delhi after which the couple returned to Bangalore. Here Karanth dabbled in some cinema as well as music and was involved with the likes of

Girish Karnad Girish Karnad (19 May 1938 – 10 June 2019) was an Indian playwright, actor, film director, Kannada writer, and a Jnanpith awardee, who predominantly worked in Kannada, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Marathi films. His rise as a playwr ...

and U.R. Ananthamurthy in these ventures. He then returned to the NSD, this time as its director in 1977. As the director of NSD, Karanth took theatre to far-flung corners of India. He conducted several workshops in places far away as

Madurai Madurai ( , , ), formerly known as Madura, is a major city in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District, which is ...

in Tamil Nadu. After his stint as the director of NSD, the Madhya Pradesh government invited him to head the Rangamandal repertory under the aegis of the Bharat Bhavan. After rendering yeoman service to the theatre scene in

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...

between 1981 and '86, Karanth returned to Karnataka. In 1989, the Karnataka government invited him to set up a repertory in Mysore, which he named

Rangayana Rangayana () is a theatre institute which operates from Mysore, Karnataka, India. It works as an autonomous cultural institute. The organization consists of a professional repertory company, a theatre-training institute and a documentation an ...

and headed until 1995. He was diagnosed with

prostate cancer Prostate cancer is the neoplasm, uncontrolled growth of cells in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system below the bladder. Abnormal growth of the prostate tissue is usually detected through Screening (medicine), screening tests, ...

in the late 1990s and died at 8 p.m. (

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) on 1 September 2002 in a private hospital in Bangalore.

Translator

His translations from Sanskrit into Hindi include Swapna Vasavadatta, Uttararama Charita and Mrichchakatika . He has also translated a large number of plays from Kannada to Hindi and vice versa. His translation of Girish Karnad's play Tughlaq into Hindi/Urdu has attained cult status.

Institutions

* 1962: graduated from NSD, winning an award as the best all – round student * 1977–1981: Director of NSD * 1981–1988: Founding director of Rangamandal at Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal * 1989–1995: Founding director of Rangayana, Mysore

Legacy

Karanth entered the Kannada theatre scene in the late 1960s and early '70s. His entry brought about a sea change in Kannada theatre which then was steeped in the old, formal proscenium style. His plays like Jokumara Swamy, Sankranti, Huchu Kudure and Oedipus to name a few, which were directed in the early 1970s, were hailed as trendsetters. These plays touched upon all aspects of theatre like language, music, song, stylisation The innovative use of music was one Karanth's biggest contributions to theatre. One of Karanth's strengths was his ability to draw on classical, traditional and folk forms and fuse them in his compositions. His plays were less famous for design as for their musical content, which became part of the prose of theatre." In 2010, at the 12th

Bharat Rang Mahotsav Bharat Rang Mahotsav (BRM) (भारत रंग महोत्सव) or the National Theatre Festival, started in 1999, is the annual theatre festival organised by National School of Drama (NSD), New Delhi. The festival was started to showca ...

, the annual theatre festival of

, Delhi, a tribute exhibition dedicated to life, works and theatre of B.V. Karanth and

Habib Tanvir Habib Tanvir (1 September 1923 – 8 June 2009) was one of the most popular Indian Urdu playwrights, a theatre director, poet and actor. He was the writer of plays such as, ''Agra Bazar'' (1954) and '' Charandas Chor'' (1975). A pioneer i ...

was displayed. Jnanpith awardee

Nirmal Verma Nirmal Verma (3 April 192925 October 2005) was a Hindi writer, novelist, activist and translator. He is credited as being one of the pioneers of the ''Nai Kahani'' (New Story) literary movement of Hindi literature, wherein his first collection ...

had once described Karanth as "the authentic desi genius of Indian theatre".

Plays of B. V. Karanth

Karanth directed over a hundred plays, more than half of which were in Kannada with Hindi close behind. He also directed plays in English,

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of South India ** Telugu literature, is the body of works written in the Telugu language. * Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Tel ...

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

Punjabi Punjabi, or Panjabi, most often refers to: * Something of, from, or related to Punjab, a region in India and Pakistan * Punjabi language * Punjabis, Punjabi people * Punjabi dialects and languages Punjabi may also refer to: * Punjabi (horse), a ...

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

and

Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub- ...

. ''Hayavadana'' (by Girish Karnad), ''Kattale Belaku'', ''Huchu Kudure'', ''Evam Indrajit'', ''Oedipus'', ''Sankranti'', ''Jokumara Swami'', ''Sattavara Neralu'', ''Huttava Badidare'' and ''Gokula Nirgamana'' are some of his most popular plays in Kannada. Of the forty or so plays he directed in Hindi,

Macbeth ''The Tragedy of Macbeth'', often shortened to ''Macbeth'' (), is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, estimated to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the physically violent and damaging psychological effects of political ambiti ...

(using the traditional

Yakshagana Yakshagana is a traditional theatre, found in Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Kasaragod district and Uttara Kannada, Shimoga and western parts of Chikmagalur district, Chikmagalur districts, in the state of Karnataka and in Kasaragod district in Keral ...

dance drama form), King Lear, Chandrahasa, Hayavadana, Ghasiram Kotwal, Mrichha Katika, Mudra Rakshasa, and Malavikagni Mitra are some of the more popular ones. Karanth also revelled in directing children and directed several children plays like ''Panjara Shale'', ''Neeli Kudure'', ''Heddayana'', ''Alilu Ramayana'' and ''The Grateful Man''.

Benaka

In 1974, Karanth started ''BeNaKa'' a repertory in Bangalore. Benaka was an acronym for ''Bengalooru Nagara Kalavidaru''. Benaka stages several hugely popular plays like ''Hayavadana'' all across Karnataka and even overseas. At Benaka, Karanth also took a special interest in children's theatre and directed several plays with children. This group has been taken care of by Prema Karanth, Karanth's late wife and a noted theatre personality in her own right. She died on 29–10–07.

Contribution to Madhya Pradesh theatre

Karanth was largely responsible for starting the new theatre movement in

. As director of the NSD, at the invitation of the Bharat Bhavan in Bhopal, he organized a training-cum-production camp in 1973. In the 1980s, he returned to set up the Rangmandal repertory in Bharat Bhavan. This was to be the first-ever repertory in the state and he became the main creative spirit behind the now-legendary Bharat Bhavan. Rangmandal, for the first time, folk professionals were used for training contemporary actors, and the repertory also included folk performers among its members. Apart from Hindi, plays were also produced in dialects such as Bundelkhandi, Malavi and Chhattisgarhi which created huge ticket-buying audiences for the Rangmandira.

Contribution to Andhra Pradesh theatre

With the integration of Alarippu and National school of Drama-New Delhi, Karanth had contributed three great plays in Telugu. Collaborated with Surabhi theatre of Andhra Pradesh, Karanth conducted three workshops respectively 'Bhishma' in 1996, 'Chandipriya' in 1997 and 'Basthidevatha yadamma'. It is his dedication that Karanth spent his time during the workshops in corner villages of Andhra Pradesh to brought up the dramas.

Filmmaking

Karanth directed four feature films and four documentaries, apart from scoring the music for 26 films. He co-directed films like

Vamsha Vriksha Vamsha Vriksha ( ), is a 1971 Indian Kannada-language film directed by B. V. Karanth and Girish Karnad, based on S. L. Bhyrappa's novel of the same name. The film won the National Film Award for Best Direction.Shampa Banerjee, Anil Srivasta ...

and

Tabbaliyu Neenade Magane ''Tabbaliyu Neenade Magane'' ( ) or ''Godhuli'' is a 1977 Indian drama film co-directed by Girish Karnad and B. V. Karanth, starring Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Maanu, Om Puri and Naseeruddin Shah. It is based on the Kannada novel '' Tabbaliyu Neen ...

with

Awards and honors

;Civilian honors *

Padmashri The Padma Shri ( IAST: ''padma śrī'', lit. 'Lotus Honour'), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 Janu ...

– Government of India, (1981) *

Kalidas Samman The Kalidas Samman () is an arts award presented annually by the Government of Madhya Pradesh in India. The award is named after Kālidāsa, a renowned Classical Sanskrit writer of ancient India. The Kalidas Samman was first awarded in 1980. It ...

– Government of

, (1976) * Gubbi Veeranna Award – Government of

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

, (1976) ;National Honors *

(1976) ;

* 1971 –

National Film Award for Best Direction The National Film Award for Best Direction is an honour presented annually at India's National Film Awards ceremony by the National Film Development Corporation of India (NFDC), an organisation set up by the Indian Ministry of Information and Bro ...

–

* 1971 –

National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Kannada The National Film Award for Best Kannada Feature Film is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the National Film Development Corporation of India. It is one of several awards presented for feature films and awarded with Rajat Ka ...

–

* 1975 –

National Film Award for Best Feature Film The National Film Award for Best Feature Film is one of the categories in the National Film Awards presented annually by the National Film Development Corporation of India, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in I ...

–

Chomana Dudi ''Chomana Dudi'' (, ) is a 1975 Indian Kannada-language drama film directed by B. V. Karanth and starring M. V. Vasudeva Rao and Padma Kumta. It is based on a novel of the same name, written by Shivaram Karanth. The film was released in the ...

* 1976 –

National Film Award for Best Music Direction The National Film Award for Best Music Direction (the Silver Lotus Award) is an honour presented annually at the National Film Awards by the National Film Development Corporation of India to a musician who has composed the best score for films ...

: Rishya Shrunga * 1977 – National Film Award for Best Music Direction:

Ghatashraddha ''Ghatashraaddha'' ( ) is a 1977 Indian Kannada language film directed by Girish Kasaravalli starring Meena Kuttappa, Narayana Bhat and Ajith Kumar in lead roles. It is based on a novella by eminent Kannada writer U. R. Ananthamurthy. The film w ...

* 1977 – National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Kannada–

;

Karnataka State Film Awards Karnataka State Film Awards are the most notable and prestigious film awards given for Kannada film industry in Karnataka, India. These are considered the highest awards for Kannada language films. They are given annually by the Government ...

* 1971-72 – First Best Film – Vamsha Vruksha * 1971-72 – Best Dialogue Writer – Vamsha Vruksha * 1975-76 – First Best Film – Chomana Dudi * 1975-76 – Best Music Director – Hamsageethe ;

Filmfare Awards South The Filmfare Awards South are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the Telugu cinema, Tamil cinema, Malayalam cinema and Kannada cinema. They are presented by ''Filmfare'' magazine of The Times Group. When it was intr ...

* 1972 – Best Director Kannada –

* 1975 – Best Director Kannada –

Documentary film on B. V. Karanth

In 2012,

Films Division The Films Division of India (FDI), commonly referred as Films Division, was established in 1948 following the independence of India. It was the first state film production and distribution unit, under the Ministry of Information and Broadcastin ...

produced a 93-minute film on BV Karanth called BV Karanth:Baba. The film bases itself on BV Karanth's autobiography in Kannada called ''Illiralaare, Allige Hogalaare'' (I can't stay here, I won't go there) compiled by well known

Kannada Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...

writer

Vaidehi Vaidehi may refer to: *Of, from or related to the ancient Indian kingdom of Videha **Vaidehi, another name for Sita of ''Rāmāyaṇa'' **Queen Vaidehi, mother of king Ajatashatru * ''Vaidehi'' (2006 TV series), also known as ''Vaidehi – Ek Aur ...

Works

*
Tughlaq (Hindi)
', by Girish Karnad. Tr. by B. V. Karanth. Rajkamal Prakashan Pvt Ltd, 2005. .

References

External links

*
Natarang Pratishthan: Archive and Resource Centre for Indian Theatre
{{DEFAULTSORT:Karanth, B. V. Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award National School of Drama alumni Academic staff of the National School of Drama Kannada film score composers Kannada film directors Indian theatre directors Hindi theatre Indian male dramatists and playwrights 2002 deaths 1929 births People from Dakshina Kannada district Kannada dramatists and playwrights Filmfare Awards South winners Best Music Direction National Film Award winners Best Director National Film Award winners Indian arts administrators 20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Indian composers Screenwriters from Karnataka Indian male stage actors Male actors in Kannada theatre 20th-century Indian male actors Kannada screenwriters Film directors from Karnataka Dramatists and playwrights from Karnataka 20th-century Indian male writers Directors who won the Best Feature Film National Film Award 20th-century Indian screenwriters Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship