Shyamhari Chakra
Nearly six decades ago, a young man in his mid-20’s from Odisha, who had just graduated in geophysics from the famed Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, embarked upon an unusual adventure.
And the adventure resulted in his distinct debut as a music composer for Odia cinema apart from creating a unique record for Odia film industry – he could make legendary Lata Mangeshkar and Mohmmed Rafi sing for Odia cinema for the first time.
He was Shantanu Mohapatra, the maverick music-maker who passed away in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday following old age aliments at the age of 84.
Born at the culturally vibrant Baripada town of the-then princely state of Mayurbhanj in 1936, he learnt vocal music under Sangeet Narayan Banchhanidhi Panda at the tender age of five and had his first public performance barely four years later.
A bright student at academics, he completed his bachelor’s degree in Applied Geology and Geophysics from IIT, Kharagpur and joined Odisha’s Directorate of Mining and Geology in 1957.
However, with music flowing in his veins – literally – he continued to explore music passionately alongside his professional exploration of the mines.
Thus, just five years later his glorious journey as a music composer commenced with the award winning film Suryamukhi.
The journey continued, even after he retired as the Director of Mining & Geology in 1994. Soul stirring songs of films like Surjyamukhi, Arundhati, Priyatama, Chilika Teeray, Agni Parikhya, Megha Mukti, Sitarati, Jiban Sangram, Dora, Jaga Balia, Golamgiri and Mukti Tirtha speak volumes of the music genius.
Lata and Rafi apart, he has the rare record of roping in Bollywood stalwarts like Suresh Wadekar, Abhijeet, Anuradha Powdwal, Kabita Krishnamurthy for his films.
Shantanu Mohapatra was the first Odia music director to score music for five different languages – Odia, Hindi, Bengali, Assamese and Telugu. Some of the critically acclaimed and award winner films for which he scored music included Sodh in Hindi that had received the Golden Lotus Award in 1979.
Despite being a hard-core geologist and having no education in music, he rose to the rank of “Top Grade” composer of AIR & Doordarshan with the distinction of having nearly 2000 compositions for 53 films – both feature and telefilms – 10 Jatras, 60 dramas by All India Radio, Cuttack and 10 dance dramas.
Among numerous awards and accolades, he was conferred the coveted D. Litt by the Utkal University of Culture and Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra Award. He was also the Vice President of Odisha Sangeet Natak Akademi.
Odisha Governor Ganeshi Lal, his Andhra Pradesh counterpart Biswa Bhusan Harichandan, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan have condoled the death of Shantanu Mohapatra.
As per the directive of the Chief Minister, his last rites were performed with State Honour at Satya Nagar crematorium in Bhubaneswar. State Cultural Minister Jyoti Prakash Panigrahi was present at the cremation.
Meanwhile, actress Nandita Das Tweeted a touching post that reads, “Another great loss. We came from the same town, Baripada. So many evenings of singing, stories and warmth. Pity, amazing artists in different parts of the country go unnoticed by the rest of the country…world. Music director Shantanu Mohapatra no more.”
