SAMBALPUR: Music composer of popular and evergreen Sambalpuri folk song ‘Rangabati Rangabati’ Prabhudatta Pradhan passed away due to cardiac arrest here on the wee hours of Monday. He was 75.
Pradhan, who had been admitted to a private nursing home in the city due to ill health for the last two days, breathed his last at around 4.30 am. He is survived by his wife and two sons. The last rites of the composer will be performed here on Tuesday morning.
Born on November 11, 1943, Pradhan started his career as an instrumentalist in All India Radio (AIR), Sambalpur in 1969. A veteran rhythm player having expertise in percussion instrument like Dhol and Mandal, he had carved a niche for himself in the field of music in Odisha. He contributed for propagation and popularisation of Sambalpuri music across the globe. He composed hundreds of popular Sambalpuri songs for broadcast by AIR, Sambalpur. Pradhan also worked as resource person in radio serials ‘Lokdhara’ and ‘Lokbadya’, produced by AIR, Sambalpur.
Pradhan was the recipient of various awards for his contribution to Sambalpuri folk music. He bagged the ‘Akashvani Annual Award’ for Sambalpuri musical production ‘Gaon Ke Jima Chal’ in 2001, Odisha Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 2002 and ‘Paschim Odisha Sanskruti Samman’ by Sambalpur University in 2006.
The song ‘Rangabati’ was recorded for AIR, Sambalpur in 1975-76 for Surmalika special programme and later, re-recorded (Disc) in Indian Record Company, Kolkata in 1978-79. It went on to become the all-time hit Sambalpuri folk song. The singers of ‘Rangabati’ are Jitendra Haripal and Krishna Patel while the lyricist is Mitrabhanu Gauntia.
Apart from ‘Rangabati’, Pradhan also composed many popular Sambalpuri songs including ‘Tetel Patar Suru Suru’, ‘Buluchhen Odisha Sara, Zila Zila Terah Zila’, ‘Kaan Chabe Kaan Kuturu’ and ‘Lari Matara’.
People from all walks of life visited Pradhan’s residence in front of the district headquarters hospital here to pay tribute to the veteran folk music director. Haripal termed Pradhan’s death as an irreparable loss. He described the composer as his mentor and said his contribution to Sambalpuri folk music will be remembered forever.