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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 her Masters degree, but discontinued her studies 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 She recovered and rendered some lost and unpublished lyrics written by the legendary songwriter-singer-composer of Odisha, Akshaya Mohanty.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" |
Odia is an Indo-Aryan classical language spoken in the Indian state of Odisha. It is the official language in Odisha, where native speakers make up 82% of the population, and it is also spoken in parts of West Bengal, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Odia is one of the many official languages of India; it is the official language of Odisha and the second official language of Jharkhand.
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, a 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.
The Odia cinema, colloquially known as Ollywood, is the Odia language Indian film industry, based in Bhubaneshwar and Cuttack in Odisha, India. The name Ollywood is a portmanteau of the words Odia and Hollywood.
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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.
Malajahna is a 1965 Oriya film written and directed by Nitai Palit based on a novel of the same title by the Oriya novelist Upendra Kishore Das. The film stars Akshaya Mohanty (Kashyap) and Jharana Das in the lead. Considered as a classic in the history of Oriya cinema, the film deals with an unusual theme in seventies in rural India of love between a married woman and a young man.
Manika is a 1986 socio-mythological Odia-language Indian feature film directed by R. Asrar. The film depicts the legendary story of one of the devotees of Lord Jagannath, Manika the milkmaid.
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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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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.