Dilip Kumar

Bhubaneswar: Eminent Odia music director Shantanu Mohapatra passed away at a private hospital here on Wednesday. He was 85.

Mohapatra lost his long battle with acute pneumonia and kidney ailment at 12.30 am, informed Kousik Mohapatra, son of the legendary music director.

A multi-talented artist of Odisha, Mohapatra was associated with Odia music industry for almost 60 years. He had directed the music of many heart touching songs in several blockbuster Odia movies including Suryamukhi, Arundhati, Chilika Tire and Dora.

He composed first Modern Odia ballad “Konark Gatha” with lyrics by Lyricist Gurukrushna Goswami and sung by Akshay Mohanty. Another evergreen song ‘Kalijae’ which was sung by Sikandar Alam is also one of his contributions.

Initially, he had made his debut in the industry as a music composer. The legendary music director is the first modern lullaby in AIR (‘Soi pada re dhana’ sung by Santilata Rout), first qawali (ae ranga rahiba nahi from Surjyamukhi), first bhangra tune, first fusion and jumping note (Ago Chandrika by Raghunath Panigrahi) to name a few.

A host of dignitaries including Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, eminent personalities from music and film industries have condoled the demise of Mohapatra.

In his message, chief minister Naveen Patnaik said that Mohapatra was an indomitable figure in Indian music. He had sacrificed his entire life for music, the CM stated.

"His contribution to music industry will keep him alive in the hearts of millions of music lovers. Odisha has lost one of his greatest sons. May his soul rest in peace," the CM mentioned through a release.

Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan also expressed his grief over the demise of Mohapatra.

BJP national vice president Baijayant Panda has also expressed his deep condolences over the sudden death of the music maestro. In a tweet, Panda described Mohapatra as a multilingual music director.

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