Kannada's Khan
K.R. GANESH
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Karim Khan was more than a film lyricist. He was a folklorist, a Gandhian and an extraordinary human being
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PHOTO: MURALI KUMAR K.
APATHY RIDDEN It's hard to believe that the Kannada film industry just became oblivious to S.K. Karim Khan, the man who penned over 200 songs
"Natavara Gangadhara... " is one of the evergreen songs in the history of Kannada films. Composed by one of the forgotten music directors of Kannada, M. Venkataraju, the song from Swarna Gauri had Rajkumar in the lead. The song in praise of Shiva was rendered beautifully by Vidwan Balamurali Krishna. Equally well-known are songs such as "Vanamali Vaikuntapate", "Jayagowri jagadeeshwari" and "Nudi mana Shivaguna sankeertana".
One common thread binds all these songs — they are all in praise of Hindu gods and are written with a heavy Sanskrit diction. They were written by S.K. Karim Khan, who passed away recently. Hard as it may be to believe in these divisive times, Karim Khan's father was from Afghanistan and his mother was of Arabic origin.
Karim Khan was a staunch Gandhian and had served seven terms in jail for the cause of Independence. He was proficient in both Sanskrit and Kannada and was a scholar on the folk traditions of Karnataka. He travelled the length and breadth of Karnataka collecting folk narratives. A song that was theatre stalwart B.V. Karanth's favourite, "Moolokadayya Govinda, solisabeda gelisayya... ", so much so that it became his signature tune, was collected by Karim Khan among hundreds of others.
Karim Khan started his career in professional theatre and authored over 80 plays. In his career as a film lyricist, he wrote over 200 songs. Industry sources that he ghost-wrote many more songs that went under the bylines of others!
Karim Khan had won several awards, including the prestigious Nadoja, Janapada Sri, Rajyotsava Award. But despite these honours it's hard to find a single monograph of him even in the Karnataka Janapada Academy, where he served as the chairman for a term. Sadly, even the well thought-out millennium collection of Kannada film music, brought out by HMV, does not feature a single composition by him.
In fact, the life of Karim Khan seems a perfect example of the callousness with which the film industry can treat a talent. While he was a lyricist of repute for decades, he stopped getting offers in the Seventies. But Karim Khan did not blame anyone and continued to live a quiet existence all by himself.
He was suddenly back in the news in the Nineties with a newspaper article that spoke of his penury. This senior artiste didn't have a roof over his head, and sadly, though he was granted a house by the government later, he never got to live in that house.
Karim Khan was a man of remarkable memory and it was evident when he came as a guest at the interactive Maneyangaladalli Mathukathe programme by the Department of Kannada and Culture. He spoke about his vast experience in the film industry. But for a man who should have had much to complain about, he came across as a man unbelievably devoid of any bitterness. He said while a snake spews venom and gets it out of the system, a human being tends to keep all his ill-feelings bottled up and becomes venom-ridden, both in body and mind. That's where the culture of a man comes into play, he said. It teaches a man to stoically handle his anger, pride and rancour and live in peace.
Words that could sound like clichés from anyone else, rang true when Karim Khan said it. He was indeed one of those rare human beings who lived as he talked. With his passing away we have lost a quintessential Kannadiga, probably the last of his kind.
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