Sharmila Mukerjee is the founder and artistic director of Sanjali Centre for Odissi Dance in Bangalore which was established in 2004.

After completing her schooling in Loreto House, and graduating from Presidency College, Kolkata, Sharmila followed her one and only passion- dance. 

Thereafter, Sharmila started learning Odissi under the tutelage of Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra from 1984 in Kolkata.  Sharmila started performing Odissi as a solo artist and in some productions directed by Guruji.She also took lessons in Abhinay from Smt.Kalanidhi Narayan and attended workshops conducted by late Smt.Sanjukta Panigrahi.

A Grade A artist of Doordarshan and an Established artist of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, Sharmila has performed at various prestigious festivals and conferences in India and abroad in countries like Fiji, Malaysia, Australia , New Zealand, Italy, U.S.A, Indonesia and U.A.E .

Sharmila has won various awards like the Singar Mani from the Sur Singar Samsad ( Mumbai), the Kala Gaurav from Karnataka, and the Sironama from Kolkata .Sharmila was recently conferred with the prestigious Mahari 2016 Award from the Guru Pankaj Charan Das Foundation ( Orissa) for her contribution to Odissi dance.

Sharmila is also a choreographer and has created many dance pieces and directed a number of productions in Odissi.She is the Artistic Director of the Sanjali Ensemble which is committed to promote Odissi throughout the world by presenting traditional and innovative choreographies.The Sanjali Ensemble has been empanelled by the Ministry of Culture ( Govt.of India) in the "outstanding" category to participate in festivals of India abroad.