Shantanu Mohapatra (1936–2020) was an Indian musician, singer and composer. Apart from

Odia Odia, also spelled Oriya or Odiya, may refer to: * Odia people in Odisha, India * Odia language, an Indian language, belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European language family * Odia alphabet, a writing system used for the Odia languag ...

, he sang in Hindi and Bengali language. He also directed music for

, Bengali , Hindi and Telugu films. During his lifetime, he composed music for more than 1,600 songs.

Early life

Shantanu Mohapatra was born on 6 January 1936, in

Baripada Baripada () is a city and a municipality in Mayurbhanj district in the state of Odisha, India. Located along the east bank of the Budhabalanga river, Baripada is the cultural centre of north Odisha. In recent years, it has emerged as an educ ...

, Mayurbhanj district in Odisha. From the age of five, he learned music from Guru Banchhanidhi Panda. He began performing on stage at the age of eight. In 1956, he graduated from IIT Kharagpur with a degree in Applied Geology and Geophysics. While studying at IIT, he became involved with the Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA) and mastered the art of group music. He learned music direction from Salil Chowdhury. In June 1956, he joined the Department of Mines & Geology, Government of Odisha and retired from there as a director. He worked as a geophysicist in Odisha Mining Corporation till retirement in 1994.

Music career

Santanu Mahapatra made his debut as an Odia movie music composer in 1963 with the film '' Surjyamukhi''. He composed music for 50 odd movies, features, telefilms, documentaries and especially art movies. He has also been credited as the first Odia music director to work in films in five different languages include Odia, Hindi, Bengali, Assamese and Telugu. His filmography include '' Surjyamukhi''(1963), ' 'Arundhati''(1967), ''

Chilika Teerey ''Chilika Teerey'' is a 1977 Indian Odia film directed by Biplab Roy Choudhury, story of an oppressed, illiterate fisher-folk, being swindled and kept in check by the business sharks and how they revolt. Plot Near Chilika lake, there is a ...

''(1977), ''

Bagh Bahadur ''Bagh Bahadur'' ( bn, বাঘ বাহাদুর, translation: ''The Tiger Dancer'') is a 1989 Bengali drama film directed and written by Buddhadev Dasgupta. The film is about a man who paints himself as a tiger and dances in a village in ...

''(1989) etc. Mohapatra had composed the first modern Odia ballad 'Konark Gatha' with lyricist Gurukrushna Goswami and it was sung by Akshaya Mohanty. He has done more than 1,900 compositions, including 53 feature and telefilms films, 10 Jatras, 60 dramas by AIR (Cuttack) and 10 dance dramas to his credit.

Honors and awards

* Lalit Kala Akademi Award – 2004 * Odisha Film Critics Award, 1995 * Mother Teresa Millennium Award, 2005

Death

He died of pneumonia on 30 December 2020, at the age of 84.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mohapatra, Shantanu Indian male playback singers 1936 births 2020 deaths 20th-century Indian composers 20th-century Indian singers Singers from Odisha People from Baripada 20th-century Indian male singers