Bhubaneswar: The Odisha chief minister, Naveen Patnaik, Monday mourned over the demise of eminent dramatist Girish Karnad.

Patnaik has twitted: Saddened to learn about passing away of iconic actor, litterateur, playwirght Padma Sri Girish Karnard. He will be missed in the world of literature and cinema.

Karnard,81, an well-known theatre personality and noted playwright passed away at his home at around 8.30 am today. He was suffering old age related illness. He is survived by his son Raghu, a writer and journalist.

Karnard has also acted in Hindi and Kannada films. He has featured in a lead role against Sabana Azmi in Hindi film Swamy. He has also acted in TV serial ‘Malgudi Days’ – based on the works of renowned Indo-Anglican writer R.K. Narayan. He was seen as RAW chief (Dr.Shenoy) in Salman Khan starter big ticket film — Tiger Zinda Hai.