Bhubaneswar: Legendary music director passed away while undergoing treatment at a private hospital here late Tuesday night. He was 84.
He was suffering from old-age related problems and acute pneumonia.
Odisha governor Prof Ganeshi Lal, Andhra Pradesh governor Biswa Bhusan Harichandan, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and many other dignitaries took to their twitter handles to condole the sad demise of music director who worked for almost 60 years in Odia film industry.
People from film industry, music field and from different walks of life thronged his Palaspalli residence to offer their last tribute to the departed soul.
As a music director, he has many firsts to his credit. First Odia ballad ‘Konark Gatha’, lyrics by Gurukrushna Goswami and sung by another stalwart Akshay Mohanty is his creation. ‘Kalijai’, sung by Md Sikandar Alam is his another creation.
He was the first music director to work with singers from Hindi film industry like Lata Mangeshkar, Md Rafi, Manna Dey, Usha Mangeshkar, Usha Uthup, Kavita Krishnamurthy, Anuradha Paudwal and Suresh Wadekar.
Born in November, 1936 in Baripada of Mayurbhanj district, Mohapatra was an alumnus of IIT, Kharagpur and a geophysict and worked with Odisha Mining Corporation.
By kalasanskruti
