Devdas Chhotray

Devdas Chhotray is an Indian Odia author,[1] administrator [2] and academician. He was the first vice-chancellor of Ravenshaw University, Cuttack, Odisha.[3] His work consists of poetry, short stories, lyrics, musicals and screenplays. Chhotray's father Gopal Chhotray, a recipient of Padma, Central Sahitya Akademi and Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, was an architect of modern Odia theatre.[4][5]

Devdas Chhotray
First Vice-Chancellor of Ravenshaw University
Chairman
Biju Patnaik Film and Television Institute, Cuttack
Vice-Chancellor
Ravenshaw University
Cuttack
Assumed office
15 November 2006
Personal details
Born25 November 1946
Cuttack
Residence(s)Cuttack, Odisha, India
Alma materRavenshaw College,
Utkal University
Cornell University,
ProfessionIndian Administrative Service officer, writer

Early life, Education & Career

Chhotray was educated at Ravenshaw College (now Ravenshaw University) and Cornell University. After joining the Indian Administrative Service in 1971, he worked in West Bengal, Bihar, Orissa and New Delhi. In 2006 Chhotray became the first vice-chancellor of Ravenshaw University, obtained UGC approval for the school in six months.[6]

Chhotray was director of the Orissa Film Development Corporation from 1983–89 and 1996–98, chairman of the publications committee for the fifth International Children’s Film Festival in 1987 and was vice-president of the governing council of the Film and Television Institute of India in Pune from 1999–2001.

Lyrics credit

Books, Writings

He has written a collection of stories, Lal Machha (Red Fish), the lyrics for more than 75 films in Oriya and television musicals. Chhotray is known for his collaboration with Akshaya Mohanty, a pioneer in modern Oriya music from the 1960s until his death in 2002, as Mohanty's principal songwriter.[7][8][9][10]

He has written screenplays for feature films in Oriya. One, Indradhanura Chhai (Shadows of the Rainbow) was screened at the Cannes Film Festival in 1995.[11]

In addition to Chhotray's anthologies of poems and stories in Oriya, notably Nila Saraswati (Blue Muse) and Hati Saja Kara (Order the Elephants), English translations of his poems have appeared in Longing (published by Pimlico Books in London). An anthology of his poems in Hindi, Ret Ki Sidhi (A Staircase of Sand) has been published in Delhi.

Awards

Chhotray's four decades of poetry and lyrics have been translated into Indian and foreign languages, and he has been published in Bengali (in the Sunil Gangopadhyaya-edited Krittibas. He has received the Prajatantra Bisuv Milan and Utkal Samaj Centenary (Gangadhar Meher Samman) Awards and the 2008 Rajdhani Book Fair Award 2008 for poetry.

References
  1. "For poet, there is no age, says Chhotray".
  2. "Stocks - Bloomberg". Bloomberg News. 27 October 2023.
  3. "Ravenshaw University".
  4. https://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/mp/2004/04/01/stories/2004040100380300.htm
  5. "The magic lantern: My reminiscences of films - Telegraph India".
  6. "Ravenshaw University in two years under the leadership of VC Devdas Chhotray". Odisha HRD. 17 November 2008. Retrieved 14 May 2014.
  7. "Akshaya Mohanty Chronicles #1: Devdas Chhotray | Sambad English". 12 October 2015.
  8. "Odisha Literary fest- The New Indian Express".
  9. "Odia: Kabir Suman's songs to get an Odia makeover | Cuttack News - Times of India". The Times of India. 14 October 2016.
  10. "Konark Dance Festival: Transporting to wonderland of classical dances". 13 December 2018.
  11. "Indradhanura Chhai". Festival de Cannes. Archived from the original on 16 December 2013. Retrieved 14 May 2014.
  12. https://eodishasamachar.com/en/governor-confers-odisha-excellence-award-2018-in-20-categories/
  13. "Guv confers Odisha Excellence Award".
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