Renowned lyricist Brundaban Jena passes away at the age of 81

Bhubaneswar: 29/1/25:Renowned lyricist Brundaban Jena passes away at the age of 81 after suffering from a prolonged illness. He was undergoing treatment at ICU in SCB Medical College and Hospital. Mr.Jena was born onJanuary15,1944 at Chanchol village in the undivided Kendrapada district.

He holds prestigious awards like Odia Sangeeta Akademi award, Odia Sahitya Akademi award, Utkal Sahitya Samman, Fakir GitiSahitya Puraskar, and Odia Gitikabi Samaja Samman to name a few.

Brundaban Jena wrote lyrics for almost 30 Odia movies and screenplay/dialogues for 8 movies. He also directed  Sashti (based on Kanhu Charan Mohanty’s novel of the same name) and Bata Abata.

Brudaban Jena learned Chhanda, Chaupadi, Bhajan, and Janana from his grandfather Paramananda Jena who was a Palakar (ପାଲାକାର). He became a recognized lyricist by Akashvani, Cuttack in 1965. He started his career as a lyricist in films from 1972 Odia movie Dharitri. He gives credit for his entry in films to actor/producer Dhira Biswal & director Nitai Palit.

Some of his popular creations are ‘Pirati Tora Duru Juhara’, ‘Emiti Rati Se Ta Abhula Smruti’, ‘Mo Priya Tharu Kiye Adhika Sundara’, ‘Bana Pakshi Jhure’ and ‘Chandrika Tume Jhara Phula’. He was awarded with Gold Medal from Sambalpur University for his work in Odia language and literature.

Contribution to Odia films

Sashti (1980) – Director
Jhieenki Jhinka (1980 – Unreleased) – Lyricist/Director
Bata Abata (1980) – Lyricist/Director
Bandhu Mohanty (1977) – Lyricist
Amar Prem (1976) – Lyricist
Ghara Sansar (1973) – Lyricist
Dharitri (1973) – Lyricist