Early Life

Minati Mishra, née Minati Das, was born in 1929 in Cuttack, to Basanta Kumar Das, a school headmaster, as the youngest of his three children. She started to learn dance and music at an early age, theme-based dance under the tutelage of Ajit Ghosh and Banabihari Maity and Odissi from Kabichandra Kalicharan Patnayak, an Odissi dancer. In 1950, Minati Mishra started learning under Kelucharan Mahapatra, the well-known Odissi guru.

Acting Career

Minati Mishra acted in five Odia films. Her debut film Suryamukhi was released in 1963, followed by Jeevan Sathi, Sadhana, and Arundhati. All four received the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Odia. She also acted in a 1963 Bengali film, Nirjana Saikate in which she has performed an Odissi dance number choreographed by Kelucharan Mahapatra. Apart from her film career she was also an A Grade artist at the All India Radio and was a recipient of Sangeet Prabhakar title for Hindustani vocal music.

Minati was the principal of the Utkal Sangeet Mahavidyalaya, Bhubaneswar from 1964 till 1989. During her tenure there, the institution regularised its curriculum, academically formalised Odissi dance and music training, introduced theatrical aspects into the syllabus and established examination guidelines, all of which are reported to have helped in the revival of Odissi. The stint at the institution also gave her opportunity to work alongside the first-generation gurus of Odissi such as Pankaj Charan Das and Deba Prasad Das.