Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra awards announced

Odisha Channel Bureau Bhubaneswar, Aug 29: Veteran actor Prasant Nanda, noted Odissi guru Sudhakar Sahoo, well-known theatre personality Niranjan Satapathy and famous table exponent Umesh Chandra Kar shall be the recipients of the annual Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra Awards for 2014 for cinema, dance, theatre and music.The awards instituted by city-based Srjan dance institution founded by Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra carry a cash award of Rs.Rs 50,000 each besides a citation.Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik would confer the awards during the valedictory evening of the five-day Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra Award Festival of dance and music at Rabindra Mandap on September 9.According to Ratikant Mohapatra, Director Srjan, the award is meant for the artistes who have distinguished themselves in their fields in spite of weak financial capability.The award is also conferred on outstanding persons who have not suffered financial setbacks but have scanty recognition from the media and public.The philosophy behind the award is to generate a fellow feeling in the artiste fraternity who can work together with the conviction that is best expressed in the axiom – Live and let live.This award has been conferred uninterruptedly for last 19 years on 41 luminaries in the artiste’s community.The festival this year will feature some of the brilliant artistes of the nation; Ramli Ibrahim, Malaysia (Odissi), Shashank Subramanium, Chennai (Carnatik Flute) on September 5; Vaibhav Airekar, Mumbai (Bharatanatyam) and Anandan Sivamani, Mumbai, (Drums) on September 6, Daksha Mashruwala, Mumbai (Group Odissi presentation of “Saggy Baggy”) and Deepak Pandit, Mumbai (Innovative Violin) on September 7; Prashant Shah, USA (Kathak) and Neeladri Kumar, Mumbai (Sitar) on September 8; and neoclassical choreography in Odissi dance by artistes of Srjan with choreography by Ratikant Mohapatra on September 9.