Oriya Music Directors should learn music first

Padmashree Raghunath Panigrahi

Pandit Raghunath Panigrahi, the 78-year-old Padmashree awardee, who spent his life promoting and popularizing Odissi dance and music, shared his views about modern odia music and why did he leave singing or composing for films?

“When I was only 19, I sang in the film ‘Ilavelpu’ for superstar N T Rama Rao. The song was a super hit. I also sang for Tamil and Kannada films. They liked my voice a lot. But I was harassed and humiliated in Odia film industry. When I was available here, Odia music directors invited singers from Bombay. However, I sang for many Odia films and also composed music in a couple of films,” he replied.

“The overall quality of music, especially classical music, has been deteriorating. It is not based on correct notes so there is no charm in today’s music. You cannot listen to it for a long time. It is my humble request to modern composers to learn music first. Why are they afraid of learning,” he shared his views about today’s oriya music directors.