Celebrated playwright, actor and filmmaker Girish Karnad once offered a remarkably forward-looking view on the relationship between theatre and newer entertainment mediums — arguing that the rise of television and video was not a threat to theatre but an expansion of art's reach to those who had never had access to it.

What Karnad Said About Television and Theatre

In an old interview with Doordarshan, Karnad traced the evolution of Indian performing arts across centuries, noting that each new medium had built upon the last rather than displaced it. He observed that folk theatre dominated the 19th century, followed by company theatre, then cinema in the 1930s, and subsequently television and video.

'How to make theatre prosper is another question, you know, we have to go into the mechanics of it. But the point is, in the 19th century there was only folk theatre, then we got company theatres, then in the 30s we got films. Then came television, then there's video, and so the number of art forms is proliferating, and it's available, it's reaching further,' he said.

Television as a Social Equaliser

Karnad's most striking argument was social rather than artistic. He stressed that television served audiences — women, domestic workers, the bedridden, and daily-wage earners — who could never realistically attend a theatre performance, whether due to cost, mobility, or social circumstance.

'I don't regret that, because I think television and video go to people who could never dream of coming to theatre, who couldn't afford theatre, women, servants, people who are bedridden, menials. I wouldn't regret television at all, because they entertain people who had no entertainment before,' he said.

This perspective was notably at odds with the prevailing anxiety among theatre practitioners of his era, who often viewed the spread of broadcast media as an existential threat to live performance.

Karnad's Legacy in Indian Theatre and Cinema

Widely regarded as one of India's most influential literary and cultural figures, Girish Karnad was a playwright, actor, director, and public intellectual whose work fundamentally reshaped modern Indian theatre. His plays — including 'Tughlaq', 'Hayavadana', 'Nagamandala', 'Yayati', and 'Taledanda' — remain landmarks of contemporary Indian drama.

His film career was equally distinguished. As an actor, he appeared in 'Manthan', 'Nishant', 'Swami', 'Iqbal', 'Dor', 'Ek Tha Tiger', and 'Tiger Zinda Hai', his final screen appearance. He also directed and wrote several acclaimed films.

Honours and Passing

Karnad was the recipient of some of India's highest civilian and artistic distinctions, including the Jnanpith Award, Padma Shri, and Padma Bhushan. He passed away in June 2019 at the age of 81.

His remarks on television's democratic reach remain as relevant today — in the era of streaming and short-form video — as they were when first delivered, a reminder that art's value lies as much in who it reaches as in what it says.