Legendary Odia musician Shantanu Mohapatra no more

BHUBANESWAR: Legendary Odia musician Shantanu Mohapatra passed away here on Tuesday night. Mohapatra, 84, was undergoing treatment at a private hospital for acute pneumonia and kidney ailments.

The first Odia music composer to work with legends like Lata Mangeshkar, Manna Dey and Md Rafi and also the first to work in Hindi, Bengali, Assamese and Telugu film industries. He has composed music for hundreds of Odia film songs and Jatra (opera) shows in a career that spanned over three decades.

Many of the regional language films that he composed music for went on to win National and State awards.

A geophysicist and IIT-Kharagpur alumnus, Mohapatra was born in Mayurbhanj district. The maestro began learning music from Sangeet Narayan Banchhanidhi Panda at the age of five. The first modern Odia ballad ‘Konark Gatha’ was composed by Mohapatra and sung by Akshay Mohanty. He also wrote ‘Kalijae’ which was sung by Sikandar Alam.

Mohapatra, who retired as the Director of Odisha Mining Corporation, received several awards including the Odisha Film Critic Award for his contribution to Odia music.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik condoled his death. He said Mohapatra dedicated his life to music and his compositions will keep him alive forever. 

The mortal remains of Mohapatra will be consigned to flames with full State Honours.