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Namrata Mohanty is an Odia singer based in Cuttack, Odisha, India. She is a B-High grade singer of All India Radio (AIR), Cuttack since 1983. She is a science graduate from Brahmapur University. She was undergoing Masters, but discontinued because of illness.
Mohanty received training in Hindustani classical vocal from musicians like Dhananjay Satapathy, A. Maheswar Rao and Shantanu Das. Her first solo album of Oriya modern songs ‘Janhare Tolide Ghara’ was released in 2009. The album had lyrics by Bijaya Malla, Nizam and Arun Mantri, and composer Om Prakash Mohanty had set them to tune.
Her second solo Oriya album ‘Dipa Jale Dipa Libhe’ was released in 2010. She recovered and rendered some lost and unpublished lyrics written by the legendary songwriter-singer-composer of Odisha, Akshaya Mohanty. [1] Music director Om Prakash Mohanty used befitting compositions for the lost lyrics. [2]
In 2014, she released two more solo albums simultaneously named 'Chhuti' and 'Ninad'. 'Chhuti' was a collection of twelve modern peppy Oriya songs written by lyricist Bijaya Malla and composed by Om Prakash Mohanty. [3] ‘Ninad’ is a collection of eight traditional Hindi bhajans written by saint-poets like Tulsidas, Surdas, Meera Bai, Kabir and Lalit Kishori. Veteran composer A. Maheswar Rao has composed the music. The two albums reflect her versatility in singing traditional bhajans as well as modern songs. While her Hindi devotional album ‘Ninad’ reached a wider audience all over the country, ‘Chhuti’ appealed to the young generation of Odisha.
She has sung the Oriya translations of some of the most popular songs of Bengali poet and musician Kazi Nazrul Islam (1899–1976), which is popularly known as Nazrul Geeti. Veteran lyricist and composer, Swaroop Naik has translated twelve selected songs of Nazrul into Oriya and noted music arranger and designer Nityashree Ranjan has supervised the dubbing sessions.
| Year | Song | Album | Music director |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | "Kichhi Kahibi Kahibi" | Chhuti | Om Prakash Mohanty |
| "Tume Janichha" | |||
| "Jyotsnare Bhijibhiji" | |||
| "Ki Dinare" | |||
| "Kie Se Dhire Dhire" | |||
| "Asadha Asichhi" | |||
| "Eitthi Khusi" | |||
| "Tu Chandrama" | |||
| "Dheu Ase" | |||
| "Jemiti Pachhe" | |||
| "Chham Chham" | |||
| "Dina Sabu" | |||
| "Bhaja Mana Ramacharana Sukhadayi" | Ninad | A. Maheswar Rao | |
| "Nishidina Barasata Nain Hamare" | |||
| "Soi Rasana Jo Harigun Gawei" | |||
| "Mein Girdhar Ke Ghar Jaaon" | |||
| "Ya Bidhi Manko Lagawei" | |||
| "Tanaki Dhanaki Kaun Badai" | |||
| "Hariko Lalita Badana Niharu" | |||
| "Lataka Lataka Manamohana Aawan" |
Nazrul Sangeet, also Nazrul Geeti, refers to the songs written and composed by Kazi Nazrul Islam, the national poet of Bangladesh. Nazrul Geeti incorporate revolutionary notions as well as more spiritual, philosophical and romantic themes. Nazrul wrote and composed nearly 4,000 songs, which are widely popular in Bangladesh and India. Some of the most notable Nazrul Sangeet include Notuner Gaan, the national marching song of Bangladesh and O Mon Romzaner Oi Rozar Sheshe, an Bengali Islamic song on the festival of the Bengali celebration of Chand Raat and Eid-ul-Fitr.
Akshaya Mohanty, also known as Khoka Bhai, was an Indian singer, lyricist, composer, musician and writer in Odia. He has contributed Odia bhajans, Odissi songs, folk songs, film and non-film modern light songs in Odisha on contemporary themes and ballads based on popular legends in Odisha.
Sarala Devi was an Indian independence activist, feminist, social activist, politician and writer. She was the first Odia woman to join the Non-cooperation movement in 1921 and the first Odia woman delegate of the Indian National Congress. She became the first woman to be elected to the Odisha Legislative Assembly on 1 April 1936.
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Ramakrushna Nanda was an Indian writer, educator and author of children's literature. He composed the song Ahe Dayamaya Biswa Bihari, a favourite of Mahatma Gandhi when Gandhi was at Sabarmati Ashram. This song was included in his Odia-language textbook Sahitya Sopana.
Devdas Chhotray is an Indian Odia author, administrator and academician. He was the first vice-chancellor of Ravenshaw University, Cuttack, Odisha. His work consists of poetry, short stories, lyrics, musicals and screenplays. Chhotray's father Gopal Chhotray, a recipient of Padma, Central Sahitya Akademi and Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, was an architect of modern Odia theatre.
PanditBhikari Charan Bal, better known as Bhajan Samrat to the people of Odisha, was an Odissi music guru and singer, best known for his renditions of traditional Odia bhajanas, devotional songs addressed to the deity Jagannatha.
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"Rangabati" is perhaps the most popular recorded song in Sambalpuri Odia. Krishna Patel, a 2023 Padma Shri awardee, is the female singer while the male singer Jitendra Haripal is a 2017 Padma Shri awardee. The song was first recorded for All India Radio in the mid-1970s. A record company from the then Calcutta, Indian Record Manufacturing Company Ltd (INRECO), re-recorded the song in 1976. The disc release was delayed due to a dispute and finally released in 1978–79. The Sambalpuri song was written by Mitrabhanu Gauntia, composed by Prabhudatta Pradhan and sung by Jitendra Haripal and Krishna Patel. In the 1970s and 1980s, the song gained popularity for being commonly played in marriage processions and Murti immersion. The song gained official recognition when it was played in the tableau of Odisha as part of the Republic Day celebrations at New Delhi in 2007. The lead singer Jitendra Haripal was also felicitated by Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik later that year. It was also notably used in the celebration of victory during an international cricket match in Barabati Stadium, Cuttack. "Rangabati" was recreated in many other languages of India and has been recreated in Telugu for a movie.
Kie Kahara (1968) is an Odia film directed by Nitai Palit. The film reflects the socio-economic conflicts of the declining Zamindar families, which were struggling to keep up social status with great difficulty.
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Sarat Nayak is a music composer and singer in Ollywood for the state Odisha in India.
Sohini Mishra is a playback singer based in Mumbai, India. She hails from Cuttack, Odisha. She came to limelight through Sony TV's reality show Indian Idol 6 (2012). She was one of the top six contestants.
Stree is a 1968 Odia film directed by "Siddhartha", which is a pseudonym for Gour Prasad Ghose, Parbati Ghose, & Ram Chandra Thakur.
Md. Sikandar Alam was a playback singer in Odisha film industry. He is sometimes called the Salabega of modern Odisha.
Gloria Mohanty was an Indian theatre, television and film actress who worked in the Odia film industry. She was honoured with the State's highest honour for contribution to Odia cinema – the Jayadeb Puraskar in 1994 and Odisha Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1992. Cultural organisation Srjan awarded her Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra Award for the year of 2011. and Life Time Achievement Award from Cultural organisation Ghungur in 2012.
Reba Ray was an Indian Odia poet educationist and administrator. Best known as one of the earliest Odia women writers, she was also founder of Model Girls' School, Cuttack. Her short story Sanyasi is considered earliest modern Odia short story by a woman writer. She was niece of renowned Odia poet Madhusudan Rao.