Uttam Mohanty is one of the most popular Ollywood star. He is one of the versatile actor. He had dominated the Oriya film industry throughout the 80’s and 90’s. He was born and brought up in Baripada town of Mayurbhanj district. He got married to Orissa’s most successful film actress Aparajeeta Khan, later known as Aparajeeta Mohanty and they have a very cute son named Tanmay Mohanty, who is a very good classical singer at the age of 10. Uttam Mohanty had first explored the Oriya film world while he was living with his elder brother Late Arun Ku. Mohanty…
Author: OdiaWeb Editor
Born in a respectable and orthodox family, Sanjukta was the first Oriya girl to embrace this classical dance at an early age and ensure its grand revival. She took this classical dance to all parts of the world, performed in every nook and corner and established herself as a renowned classical dancer, producing innovative dance ballets on varied subjects. She started performing Odissi at the age of six under the guidance of Guru Padma Bhusan Kelu Charan Mahapatra and bagged the first prize in the International Children’s Film Festival in 1952. That was the first time that the Odissi dance…
Guru Kelu Charan Mahapatra is undoubtedly the most important figure in Odissi dance today and has been the guru at some time of nearly every important Odissi dancer and teacher in India and throughout the world. Born in Raghuraipur, a village in Orissa in 1926, he belongs to a family of Patachitra painters who used to paint patachitras of Lord Jeganath. He started learning Gotipua Nritya and Pakhawaj under the great gurus, Mohan Sundar Deva Goswami and Pankaj Charan Das at an early age. He performed with a Rasleela troupe before joining the theatre. After Indian independence, he started to…
Among the distinguised senior dancers of the Odissi style, Shrimati Kumkum Mohanty received her training in Odissi dance at Kala Vikash Kendra under the tutelage of Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra. She is also trained in Odissi. Early in life, she was acclaimed as an outstanding dancers and won appreciation among the connoisseurs. She has excelled in her sensitive renderings of Asthapadis from the Gita Govinda and taken lead roles in several choreographic works by her guru. She has also participated in major festivals in the country and abroad. In the mid-1980s, when the Odissi Research Centre was established by the Government…
Daughter and disciple of Odissi maestro Guru Harekrishna Behera, Kavita Dwibedi is one of the leading exponents of Odissi dance in India today. She is a Post Graduate in Sociology from Delhi University and holds Visharad (B.A) in Odissi dance from Gandharva Mahavidyalay. A dancer of vision and versatility, Kavita is known for her superb abhinaya. A widely travelled danseuse, Kavita had a highly successful Indian Council For Cultural Relations (ICCR) sponsored performance tour to the U.K., Italy, Sweden, Finland, Latvia, Estonia, Denmark, Ireland and Norway during the 50th anniversary celebrations of India’s independence in 1997. The artiste has also…
Italian by birth, Ileana holds a Doctrate in Philosophy with a thesis on Psychoanalysis and eastern mythology. She has come to Indian dance after years of experience in the traditional as well as as experimental theatre in Europe. IIeana has been living in Orissa, since the year 1979 in close contact with people, their language and culture. Her mentor in the Odissi dance is the renowned Guru, Padma Bibhushan, Kelucharan Mohapatra. She is equally at home with the different maritial postures of the Chhau dance of Mayurbhanj which has learnt under the guidance of Guru Shri Hari Nayak, obtaining the…
Groomed in Odissi in the Guru-Shishya tradition since early childhood, Mayadhar Raut also had the advantage of learning under the direct tutelage of Rukmini Devi Arundale at Kalakshetra for many years. The Odissi repertoire as it exists today is indebted to Guru Mayadhar Raut more than to any other Guru. As the founder member of Jayantika, an association formed in the 1950’s, Guruji has played a major role in giving Odissi its classical status. Guru Mayadhar Raut is the first Odissi Guru to introduce MUDRA VINYOGA in the study of Odissi in 1955 and SANCHARIBHAVA in the Odissi dance items.…
Padmashree Bhagaban Sahu, an outstanding dance teacher, actor, singer, percussionist, director, excperimenter and choreographer made his final exit on August 12, 2002 . Throughout his life, whenever he gave a performance, he danced his way into the hearts of the audience irrespective of their nationality and language and become a celebrity. There by he carved out a place for himself in the cultural history of Orissa. Bhagaban Sahu is no more and yet his very much present. This statement may sound paradoxical. But it is true. Though his mortal remains have been cosumed by fire, his lofty ideal of keeping…
Born in 1956, Dr Sarojini Sahoo has an MA and PhD degrees in Odia Literature, and a Bachelor of Law, from Utkal University. She now teaches at a Degree college in Belpahar, Jharsuguda, of Orissa. A distinguished feminist writer, and an earlier editor of Pallaba, a fiction oriented Odia journal, she has been conferred with the Orissa Sahitya Academy Award, 1993, the Jhankar Award, 1992, the Bhubaneswar Book Fair Award and the Prajatantra Award. She has published seven anthologies of short stories and five novels. The anthologies are: Sukhara Muhanmuh (1981), NijaGahirareNije (1989), Amrutara Pratikshare (1992), Chowkath (1994), Tarali Jauthiba…
Rabindra Nath Singh popularly known as Rabi Singh is famous for his revolutionary writings. He is an exceptional talent. He occupies a prominent place in Oriya literature for his leftist though and socialistic approach in his writings. His thought for exploitation-free and peaceful society has earned him a distinct place in Oriya literature. In 1961 he was recipient of Orissa Sahitya Akademi Award for his poetry ‘CHARAM PATRA’. In 1989, he was recipient of Jhankar Award. He was also awarded by Utkala Sahitya Samaja in 1996. His poetry books include – PATHA PRANTARA KABITA, CHARAMA PATRA, SITHILA BALGA, APRITIKARA KABITA,…