Music composer Prem Anand made his debut into the world of cinema in 1993. It has been twenty-seven years and he has managed to held on to his position as the numero uno composer in the Odia film industry with sheer talent and hard work. Prem Anand has been widely recognised for introducing new sounds and melodies in Odia film music and for giving several talented individuals – singers and lyricists – the platform to showcase their talent. The kind of novelty and innovative techniques he brought to the world of music resulted in him being conferred with the title of ‘Musical Scientist’ by Dr. Binaya Das, director of ITR Chandipur.
After putting together the score for some of the biggest films made in the history of the Odia film industry over these years, Prem Anand was invited by a couple of filmmakers in Bollywood to compose for their films. Around 2010, he even had a couple of music sittings with legendary filmmaker, the late Yash Chopra who was highly impressed with the composer’s skills and his penchant for coming up with heart-rending melodies. He has worked with a bevy of popular singers including Udit Narayan, Alka Yagnik, Mohammad Aziz, Anuradha Paudwal, Shankar Mahadevan, Kavita Krishnamurthy, Mohit Chauhan, Palak Muchhal, Jubin Nautiyal, Javed Ali, Sunidhi Chauhan, Aditi Paul, Nakash Aziz, Mika Singh, Babul Supriyo, Sonu Nigam, Vinod Rathod, Sadhana Sargam, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Kumar Sanu, Abhijeet Bhattacharya, Shaan, Roop Kumar Rathod, Pamela Jain, Suresh Wadkar, Antara Mitra, Anupama Deshpande, Jolly Mukherjee, Anandi Joshi and Swapnil Bandodkar
His song ‘Khuda Raazi’, from the film ‘Love U Turn’ and which was sung by Jubin Nautiyal and Aakanksha Sharma, got a good response from the listeners. He is in talks with several leading filmmaker from the Hindi film industry and hope to do a couple of more films there soon.
Last year, Prem Anand had scored the music for a track called ‘Tribal Anthem, Culture of Odisha’. The lyrics for the song were penned by Basant Raj Samal and it was sung by Rituraj Mohanty and Diptirekha Padhi. The music video was directed by filmmaker Nila Madhab Panda. Hollywood actor and producer Rick Segall and actor cum filmmaker Korbin Miles had posted a feedback review on their YouTube channel about the music video. They had praised various aspects of the video and the song including the soaring composition put together by Prem Anand. They had some great things to say about the folk music infused in the song and the diverse indigenous culture and vibrancy of the state of Odisha.He composed Jagannath Sahashranaama, for which he bagged the Swara Saatyaki Samman, and BaladevJeu Sahashranaama, both in Sanskrit. In Sanskrit he had composed a patriotic song “Vande Bharat Maatarm” sung by Padmashree Shankar Mahadevan, which was appreciated by PM Modi.
After leaving Ollywood and Bollywood spellbound with his timeless melodies, this was another step-up for the composer.
During his 27-year long glorious career as a composer, Prem Anand has been honoured with innumerable awards including Swara Saatyaki Samman, awarded by Puri Shankaracharya Nischalanda Saraswati, Odisha Filmfare Award, Odisha Music Excellency Award, Geet Tarang Award, Salam Odisha by Zee Sarthak, Tarang Cine Awards, Akshaya Sangeeta Samman, Odisha Cine Ratna Award, Kalidas Samman and many more.
Equally long is the number of talented singers he has introduced to the industry.
Sricharan Mohanty, Human Sagar, Dipti Rekha Padhi, Ananya Sritam Nanda, Satyajit Pradhan, Ashutosh Mohanty, Biswajit Mohapatra, Shasank Sekhar,Manasi Patra, Sabishesh Mishra, Sohini Mishra, Bishnu Mohan Kabi, Lopamudra Dash, Lipsha Mohapatra, Samikhya Mishra, Sangram Mohanty, Tarique Aziz, Sourin Bhatt, Pratibha Pradhan, Partha Pratim, Rojalin Sahu, Pryadarsi Debasis, Pratyasha Dash, Sudipa Das, Binaya Mohanty, Bandhish Palit, Sujit Bhoi, Madhab, Priyansu Samantray, Subhadra Subhadarsini, Abhaya Malia, Aryan Dash, Aakanshya Sharma, Saswati Acharya, Sabyasachi Mishra, Sasmita Mishra, Kumar Keerti, Koushik, Ipsita Panda, Prangya Hota – The list is endless indeed. Prem Anand has also worked with almost all senior artists from Odisha like Gita Pattanayak, Gita Dash, Pranab Patnaik, Trupti Das, Subas Dash, Srikant Dash, Guru Ramahari Dash, Tanshen Singh, Prafulla Kar, Sikandar Alam, Najia Alam, Kumar Bapi, Namita Agarwal, Shakti Mishra, Sailabhama, Pami Mishra, Tapu Mishra, Ira Mohanty, Subashis Mahakud, Arabinda Dutta, Basanta Patra, Sourav Naik, Bibhu Kishore, Badal Kumar, Gobinda Chandra, Shanghamitra Dash, Prasanta Muduli, Ratikanta Satpathy and Siba Ratha.
Lately, Prem Anand has also given an opportunity to Duleshwar Tandi, fondly known as Rapper Dule Rocker to perform in his upcoming Odia film “Jio Bala Aunty” and the song has become a rage in Odisha already.
Not just singers, he introduced lyricists to the industry like Subrat Swain, Gagan Beura, Jayanta Das, Dr Tapan Mohanty, Late Annapurna Nanda and Late Nrushingha Mohanty.
Prem Anand is the Music Director for highest number of films in Odisha. His list of films is as follows.
1.LUV U TURN (2019)(HINDI) 2. FROM ME TO YOU (2019) 3. CHHABIRANI (2019)
4. TU MO LOVE STORY 2(2019) 5. BIJU BABU(2019) 6. NIMKI(2019)
7. AJAB SANJU RA GAJAB LOVE(2019)
8. SAATHI TU PHERIA(2019)
9. PREM KUMAR(2018)
10. ISHQ PUNI THARE (2018) 11. BLACKMAIL(2018) 12. 4 IDIOTS(2018)
13. LOVE PROMISE (2018) 14. OLE OLE DIL BOLE (2018) 15. DIPU THE DANCE BOY (2018)
16. HAPPY LUCKY (2018) 17. BAJRANGI (2017) 18. SHIVA NOT OUT (2017)
19. KAABULA BAARABULA (2017) 20. ROMEO JULIET (2017) 21. ABHAYA (2017)
22. TU MO LOVE STORY (2017) 23. KATHAA DELI MATHAA CHHUIN (2017) 24. BABY (2016)
25. BHAINA, KANA KALA SE (2016) 26. JHIA TAA BIGIDIGALAA (2016)27. AGASTYA (2016)
28. HELAA MATE PREMA JARA(2016) 29. GOTE SUAA GOTE SAARI (2016) 30. SHORTCUT (2015, MARATHI)
31. GALPA NUHE ALPA DINARA (2015) 32. JAGAA HAATARE PAGHAA (2015) 33. PILATA BIGIDIGALAA (2015)
34. LOVE YOU HAMESHA(2015) 35. GAPA HELE BI SATA (2015) 36. TAME THILE SAATHIRE (2014)
37. MENTAL (2014) 38. SOMETHING SOMETHING 2 (2014) 39. TO BAATA CHAHINCHI RAATI SAARAA
(2014)
40. TU MO DEHA RA CHHAAI (2014) 41. MITA BASICHI MOO BHUTA SAATHIRE
(2013) 42. GADBAD (2013) 43. BACHELOR (2013) 44. HAATA DHARI CHAALUTHA (2013)
45. PAARIBENI KEHI ALAGAA KARI (2013) 46. CHAANDA NAA TAME TARAA (2012)
47. RAJA JHIA SAANGE HEIGALA BHABA (2012) 48. SOMETHING SOMETHING (2012)49. KATAK, A SILVER CITY (2011) 50. CHANDINI I MISS U (2011) 51. HI DARLING (2011) 52. KEMITI AE BANDHANA (2011) 53. PREM WEDS PRIYA (2011) 54. TATE BHALA PAAUCHI BOLI (2010)
55. AALO MORA KANDHEI (2010) 56. PAAGALA KARICHI PAAUNJI TORA
(2010) 57. DEKH BHAI DEKH (2009, HINDI) 58. LOVE.COM (2009) 59. ABHIMANYU (2009)
60. AAILAARE ODIA PUA (2009) 61. DHEERE DHEERE PREMA HELA (2009) 62. TU MORI PAIIN (2009)
63. RASIKA NAAGARA (2007) 64. I LOVE MY INDIA (2006) 65. TU EKA AAMA SAAHAA BHARASAA
Prem Anand’s award list is also endless. Notable awards of his are:
SWARA SAATYAKI SAMMAN AWARDED BY PURI SHANKARACHARYA NISCHALANANDA SARASWATI
• PATAKURA PRATIVA SAMMAN 2020
• RAJU PADIHARI SMRUTI SAMMAN 2020 BY SAMBAD SAHITYA GHAR
• ABHINANDANIKA SAMMAN 2019
• SIBABRATA DASH SAMMAN 2019
• ODISHA MUSIC AWARD 2019
• ODISHA FILMFARE AWARD 2019
• GEET TARANG AWARD 2019
• 1ST ODISHA PERSONALITY AWARD 2019
• NEWS MAKER 2019 BY KANAK NEWS
• ODHISHA MUSIC EXCELLENCY AWARD 2019
• MAYURBHANJA MAHASAMMAN 2018
• PATHANI SAMATA SAMMAN 2018 BY SHIKSHYA
• ODISHA EXCELLENCE AWARD 2018 BY ODHISHA MEDIA PVT LTD
• SALAM ODISHA BY ZEE SHARTHAK 2018
• TARANG CINE AWARDS, ODIA FILM FARE AWARDS 2018 FOR PREM KUMAR
• AKSHAYA SANGEETA SAMMAN 2017 BY CINE CRITIC ASSOCIATION IN ODISHA
• KATAK NRUTYOTSHAV PARIBAR SAMMAN 2017 BY BARABATI SANSKRUTIKA PARISHAD
• KALINGA GAURAV SAMMAN 2016 AT KALINGA CINE AWARDS
• ODISHA CINE RATNA AWARD 2014 AT NATIONAL FESTIVAL OF DANCE, DRAMA, MUSIC
• KALIDAS SAMMAN 2013
• 7TH UTKAL PRODUCER’S ASSOCIATION AWARD 2011
• ADIKABI SARALA DAS SMRUTI SAMMAN 2010 BY SARALA PITHA, JAGATSHINGHPUR
• BEST MUSIC DIRECTOR FOR TU MO LOVE STORY AT CHOCOLATE MUSIC AWARDS (2017) BY RADIO CHOCOLATE 104FM
Prem Anand has also been a judge in the ETV show Aamari Swara and Zee Sarthak’s Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Swara Ra Mahamancha and Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Little Champs.
There are very few legends who believe in constantly encouraging and showing the path to upcoming talent. Prem Anand is one such rare individual. He believes the music industry will prosper only if we give opportunities to people who have the urge and the drive to create something fresh, unique and beautiful.
While it has been a long journey of nearly three decades, Prem Anand feels the journey has just begun for him. After maintaining a strong hold over Ollywood for decades, he is now all set to make Bollywood sway to his melodious tunes. Not to forget, there is praise and adulation coming in from Hollywood too. A new journey has truly begun for him!