Ipsita Alisha Mishra and Pritam Mohanty fuse various forms of contemporary and modern dance to create a style of their own. Telegraph picture

Ipsita Alisha Mishra and Pritam Mohanty are the newest celebrities of Jajpur district. Their mesmerising dance moves and captivating expressions have catapulted them into the big league.

They are now household names since the dance show, Jhoom Orissa Jhoom (JOJ), started airing on a local entertainment channel.

Better known as I. Alisha and M. Pritam on JOJ, this duo has presented breathtaking performances on the show, thereby stealing the hearts of the audience and judges.

Fusing various forms of contemporary and modern dance to create a style of their own, the duo has always hogged the limelight. Their amazing chemistry has made them strong contenders for the grand finale, which will be held in the first week of December.

Alisha (12), who started learning Odissi classical dance at the age of three, switched over to modern dance within a year at choreographer Wajid Ali’s dance academy in Jajpur. There she met Pritam (14), who was a part of the academy for two years. There they were often paired-up for duet performances and since then they shared a steady partnership.

They went as solo performers to Boogie Woogie, a dance show in 2005, but were put together for the duet rounds. The teenagers ruled hearts with their performance of Ek aankh maaroo. They are being trained for the last six months by ace dancer Prabhu Patra. Patra has also choreographed their steps for JOJ.

While Pritam specialises in dancing styles such as hip-hop, b boy and jabbawockeez, Alisha’s forte is Odissi and contemporary dance.

They are also experts in salsa and rock ‘n’ roll.

Pritam draws influence from his uncle and father (Pratap Chandra Mohanty) who were theatre actors.

On the other hand, Alisha’s inspirations are her maternal uncle Parshunath Mishra and father’s friend Radhika Ranjan Mohanty. The latter accompanies the duo to every show.

Mohanty also takes care of their fitness and helps them fine-tune their moves. Both idolise choreographer Terrence Lewis and actress Katrina Kaif. Alisha loves Aishwarya Rai’s acting and Saroj Khan’s dance steps and Pritam fancies Shahid Kapoor’s moves.

Unlike Pritam, who enjoys watching action-packed Hollywood movies, Alisha is not a movie buff. She spends her free time dressing up, watching cartoon shows and reading storybooks.

Pritam is also interested in video games and painting.

Both teenagers are shopaholics.

Alisha loves buying stylish dresses, trendy accessories, junk jewellery and cosmetics. Pritam mostly splurges on tees, chains, designer shoes and scarves and stoles are now his trademark dresscode.

The two reside in the same neighbourhood and visit each other during family functions and dance rehearsals.

Alisha’s parents, Sailendri and Pradeep Kumar Mohanty, are very good friends with Pritam’s parents Manjushree and Pratap Chandra Mohanty. They often go on outings together.

Although they are always on the move due to dance competitions and shows, the duo belonging to Apex English Medium School, Jajpur has never let their passion affect their academics in any way.

Pritam has been a city topper in the National Mathematics Olympiad for two consecutive years and in Science and Cyber Olympiads for five years now.

He is very interested in science, especially physics and chemistry, and aspires to become a software professional.

Alisha is also a brilliant student and has always scored more than 95 per cent in her examinations. She has been a city topper in Science Olympiad and bagged the second prize in state-level English Olympiad. She aspires to become a pilot.

— Shilpi Sampad

My Take

She

Born without desire, grows without care,With discrimination everywhere, she gets a place nowhere.

Although innocent, kind, gentle and loving, obedient, assuring and caring, She never gets a smile to wear, really it is not fair, She nurtures, loves and looks after her brothers,

Acts for them no less than a mother, works the whole day further, But still for her no one bothers.

She waits for a ray of hope, that would bring her some words of love, Prolongs for a moment when she would be cared, when upon her sadness, happiness would be layered.

She questions what her fault is, for sharing her pain whom she should call, she wonders if God sees the neglect, but she is left to blame her fate.

Oh! Please stop this discrimination, give her your kind affection, Work for her welfare with full determination, she is also the future of the nation.

Allow her to bloom with flying colours, to avail whatever she favours, Lower the bars of
restriction, free her of the limitations.

Surely she would emerge with cheerful smiles, and roses would cover the thorns
of her life.

Archana Pradhan,
Class IX,
DAV Public School,
Chandrasekharpur