india

Updated: Sep 06, 2019 00:44 IST

Veteran author Kiran Nagarkar, best known for his books Ravan And Eddie, Cuckold and Saat Sakkam Trechalis, published in English as Seven Sixes Are Forty Three, passed away on Thursday evening from illness. The 2001 Sahitya Akademi award recepient was seventy seven.

In literary circles, Nagarkar was a powerhouse, known for his playful use of language, for cinematic storytelling, for his criticisms of the establishment and for bringing alive the chawls and everyday street life in Mumbai.

Anil Dharkar, writer, longtime friend and director of the annual Tata Literature Live! festival says his passing leaves a void in Indian literature. “Not too many people know that he was ill and had dietary restrictions for much of his life — he brushed it off with humour,” he says.

Dharkar hired Nagarkar early in the 80s to write edgy film reviews in Debonair, a magazine Dharkar edited.’ He’d written Saat Sakkam Trechalis in Marathi and I could see the inventiveness in his writing. In English he was the great storyteller. In Marathi, he just did wondrous things with the language.’

Nagarkar hoped he’d write a different ending to his 2017 book Jasodha. His most recent work, The Arsonist, reimagining the life of saint-poet Kabir was published this year. He was also awarded Germany’Order of Merit. As allegations of sexual misconduct surfaced under #MeToo last year, Nagarkar was among those named by three women. Dharkar says the allegations surprised and upset him.