(From left) Nalini Nihar Nayak, Padmini Dora and Yudhisthir to recieve Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puruskar for 2012

Bhubaneswar, June 6: Three promising artistes of the state have bagged the coveted Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puruskar for 2012.

Nalini Nihar Nayak in the field of theatre direction, Yudhistir Nayak in Odissi dance and Padmini Dora in the category of folk song will receive the award instituted by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, New Delhi, for 2012.

Since 2006, the award has been given to talented artistes in the fields of music, dance and drama.

Folk singer Padmini can mesmerise anyone with her mellifluous renditions. Her career spans for over two decades. Born and brought up in Sambalpur, Padmini neither has from a musical lineage to boot nor did she aspire to be a singer.

“I loved music as a schoolgirl but never got a chance to be trained. Later, some noted singers encouraged me to sing when they heard me at an event,” said Padmini.

Having learnt singing by merely listening to radio, she auditioned for the All India Radio in 1991 as a Class X student and cleared it. She went to collaborate with noted contemporary music composers for albums such as Chanhara, Luk Lukani and one of her famous, Manchuni that is based on traditional Radha Krishnarasa in the Danda folk style of Balangir and Sonepur.

She is well versed in nachniya, bajniya, dalkhai, raserkali and danda folk varieties of singing.

Bhubaneswar boy and Odissi dancer Yudhisthir is equally adept in both Odissi vocal and Odissi mardal (traditional percussion instrument). “Dance is one of the most powerful media to express every emotion we feel, be it joy, pain, pride or remorse,” said the young dancer.

His creations include dance dramas such as Ahalyaa and Chitrangadaa. A product of the Odisha Dance Academy, over the past decade he has been teaching his art to numerous young and budding dancers. Initially trained to be a Gotipua dancer, later he also received training in Mayurbhanj’s Chhau dance under Guru Srikant Sen. He learnt Odissi from veteran Guru Gangadhar Pradhan. He has spellbound art connoisseurs from Bhubaneswar to Belgrade and from Cuttack to Chicago performing at various festivals.

For six years, Nalini has been seeing himself getting nomination for the award, which he finally won. “I knew that I would get it one day,” said Nalini, who is the first from Odisha to get the award in the theatre direction category. He has acted in over 80 plays and directed around 40. Hailing from Kendrapara district, he has directed plays penned by veterans such as Bijay Mishra, Girish Karnad, Manoj Das and Badal Sarkar.

In 2003, he founded his own theatre troupe named New Quest and had to mortgage his own motorbike to stage his first show at Rabindra Mandap. He is inspired immensely by noted theatre director B.V. Karanth. He wants Odia theatre to head towards classical Indian form instead of concentrating on proscenium one.

Last year, two artistes — Odissi dancer Sonali Mohapatra and flute player Srinibas Satapathy — had won the laurels.