A storyteller rooted in folklore

Kambar is a man of many talents.

Chandrashekhar Kambar, 84, is widely regarded as one of India’s foremost playwrights. He has just been nominated for the Padma Bhushan, the country’s third highest civilian honour.

Kambar’s plays explore diverse themes, and his narratives are rooted in Kannada folk theatre. He tells stories the old-fashioned way, with a beginning, middle and end. When modern theatre was moving away from music and dance, he was unapologetic about using them to colour his productions. His plays are invariably musicals, with songs for which he has often made his own tunes. Kambar and B V Karanth have composed a majority of modern Kannada theatre songs popular today.

He often sings one of his famous poems, an ironic take on Mao Tse Tung, and said to be a commentary on Indira Gandhi’s rule. Among his most frequently staged plays are Jokumaraswamy, Karimayi, and Siri Sampige, the last of which is based on a folk tale he heard from the renowned poet and translator A K Ramanujan. Karnad also heard the story, and wrote Nagamandala.

Kambar’s distinctive idiom draws on folklore and mythology as he grapples with contemporary subjects. What Malgudi is to R K Narayan, Shivapura is to Kambar. It is here that his stories unfold, metaphorically exploring a community transitioning from tradition and tradition to modernity and self-doubt. One of his more recent works, a novel called Shivana Dangura (2015), talks about farmer suicides, tracing the phenomenon to the neglect of the rural economy since Independence.

Author of 25 plays, four novels, and 11 collections of poetry, Kambar has been prolific. He finds pride of place among the post-Kuvempu generation, in a pantheon that includes U R Ananthamurthy, Girish Karnad, Poornachandra Tejaswi and P Lankesh.

Over the years, Kambar has held several important cultural positions. After a brief teaching stint at the University of Chicago, Kambar joined Bangalore University, and taught at the Kannada Studies Centre. He later became vice-chancellor of the Kannada University in Hampi, and also served as chairman of the National School of Drama in Delhi.

Kambar is the recipient of some of the most prestigious literary awards in India, including the Jnanpith.