Rituraj Mohanty

Early life and education

Mohanty was born in Nimapada in Puri district, Odisha, the elder son of Chakradhar and Pravati Mohanty. Music ran in the family: his father played the tabla and sang in small jatra troupes, and his cousin Sumanta Mohanty was a music director known for Odia classical music. Rituraj studied Odissi music at Utkal Sangeet Mahavidyalaya in Bhubaneswar.

Music career

According to Wikipedia, an accident made him stop singing for a time, after which he moved to Mumbai to look for work. His rendition of "Aam Ke Aam Honge" for the second season of Aamir Khan's television programme Satyamev Jayate drew attention, and he sang "Sahib" in the Hindi film Bhoothnath Returns.

In 2014 he entered India's Raw Star, a Star Plus singing contest hosted by Gauahar Khan and judged by Yo Yo Honey Singh and Himesh Reshammiya. He won the show at its finale on 30 November 2014, becoming its first champion.

His later Hindi credits listed by Wikipedia include songs for Saraaab (2015), Teraa Surroor (2016), the series Made in Heaven, Gujjubhai Most Wanted (2021), Sherdil: The Pilibhit Saga (2022), Malang (2023) and other projects. In 2015 he was one of the performers, with Sona Mohapatra and Ram Sampath, of a reworked version of the Sambalpuri song "Rangabati" on MTV Coke Studio, which provoked protests in western Odisha.

Film playback

Rituraj recorded his first Odia film song for Sister Sridevi (2017), a Tarang Cine Productions film starring Babushaan, with music by Abhijit Majumdar. Talking to Odisha Bytes at the time, he said he wanted to sing many kinds of Odia songs, particularly in the Sufi style that suits his voice. He also observed that recording and mixing studios in Odisha were well behind those in Mumbai.

Our database credits him in five Odia films, among them Prem Kumar (2018), Biswanath (2022), Sankar (2023) and Kuhudi (2024). His other Odia work includes the album Bhuli Jibi Tote (2015) and "Sunle Maula" (2016), a music video against child labour.

Other work

He appeared on screen as the lead singer of a rock band in The Pushkar Lodge (2021), for which he also sang "Mhara Dholna". He has been a brand ambassador for the Odia entertainment channel Tarang and performs regularly in Odisha; in January 2023, for example, Kalinga TV reported his set at the Rourkela City Festival.