A soulful conversation with Sona Mohapatra, who rocked the stage at MTV’s Coke Studio
Sona Mohapatra’s music is unique in every sense of the word. The earthy and soulful voice behind popular songs like ‘Bedardi Raja’ (Delhi Belly), ‘Ambarsariya’ (Fukrey) and ‘Naina’ (Khoobsurat), Sona is now upbeat about the new season of MTV Coke Studio where she has recreated the popular Sambalpuri folk song of Odisha, ‘Rangabati’.
‘Rangabati’ was recorded way back in 1972 and sung by Jitendria Haripal.
Along with Ram Sampath, her critically-acclaimed music composer husband, she has created a musical fusion of ‘Rangabati’ and ‘Bande Utkala Janani’ (the State anthem of Odisha) for the MTV Coke Studio Season 4.
“I was waiting for the right opportunity to put the spotlight on my Odia roots and Sambalpuri folk music, in particular. This year marks my 10th year as a professional music artiste and Rangabati is my musical ode to my motherland, Odisha. The experience of performing this song with Ram, my band and three more brilliant artistes, Tony & Rajesh and Rituraj, was exhilarating,” she says.
Cuttack-born Sona grew up listening to folk songs like ‘Rangabati’.
“The groove of the composition, the earthiness, the amazing vocal phrasing of Jitendria Haripal in particular always inspired me when I heard it as a child. Listening to Haripalji and Smt Krishna Patel, the late Shri Fakir Patnaik and Bhikhari Bal in my growing up years fuelled my interest and love for the folk styling of Odisha,” she adds.
Coke Studio at MTV is a rare platform that showcases artistes, musicians, musicianship and musical genres that do not necessarily get a spotlight in the mainstream.
She believes that India cannot keep consuming only one kind of music and be stuck in language politics. This platform enables the youth in particular to engage with their roots and take pride in them by providing a bridge between the old and the new, she says.
“Last season, the theme of our show was ‘Devi’ and we had an all woman line up of artistes and celebrated different colours of feminine energy. This season, Ram Sampath presents ‘Bhoomi’ as an underlying theme across all four songs. It cuts across all four regions of the country to tell a common story of love for one’s land,” Sona says.
As far as independent music is concerned, she feels India has a long way to go. She says there is a thirst for independent music going by the huge turnout in her concerts but the gate-keepers in the media and sponsors still back film names largely.
“Folk music, Ghazals, Classical music and even Punjabi music in my eyes is also independent music and has had a strong following and its own scene in India. The late Jagjit Singh for example has outsold any film recording artist! When it comes to the youth and the band scene, I feel we need to foster a culture of original expression to start with. We cant go around emulating the West. An Indie scene will emerge from content that is truly indigenous and has its roots in the homeland’s poetry, art, literature and possibly even folk forms. In that regard , Kerala has some amazing artistes and bands like Avial and so has West Bengal,” she feels.
On the standard of music industry today, Sona says credits to the creators of music is very important as it retains the respect that one must accord to creation. She believes the true heroes are the writers, composers, lyricists and specifically those who believe in originality.
“Original creations and creativity is hugely under-valued in Bollywood. There is money for success parties galore but none to pay for the creators of the music. The pay-outs are squeezed to such a limit that unless music directors start singing and performing in live-shows, they can hardly support their set-ups,” she says.
For the artiste who has distinct sense of style, fashion operates as a communication process, as a place of control and expression.
“So my naked or clothed body is a gendered text. Across history and cultures, the control and censorship that the female body has been subjected to is focussed largely on controlling female sexuality. The dominant discourse within feminine dressing is evoking hetro-sexual desire and it requires women to embody contradictory, stereotypical traits of feminist such as delicateness, passivity and innocence but also eroticised display; the whore binary. I am not willing to fit into any of these stereotypes and if & when I wear a body-con outfit or one that reveals my body with all its imperfections and natural fluidity, I do so with the unbridled joy of celebrating myself and not to pander to a male gaze,” she asserts.
Sona says she likes to dress up as her mood dictates and comfort for her is the key, so is self expression, creativity and most importantly, her ‘desi’ roots show up in some form or the other.
“There’s a great lyric in a Groove Armada song that goes, ‘If everybody looked the same, we’d get tired of looking at each other’. I refuse to be pigeonholed into this regressive system, so I just ignore people who try to enforce it on me. This superficial judgement needs to expand into acceptance of beauty in all shapes and sizes. Women are gorgeous, just believe it,” she smiles.
Apart from the MTV Coke Studio, Sona is currently busy with her forthcoming album, ‘The Punjab Project’ with BombayVoice.com. The first single of the album and music video is releasing by second week of July. For this, she os collaborating with Sumit Sethi and Paras Sunda from Delhi. “We are attempting to fuse traditional vocals with various genres in electronica, dub-step etc. This is not the kind of music I have done in the past but I am excited about pushing the envelope and trying something new,” she says.
She also has an EDM Qawalli, ‘Ishq Karenge’ ready for release in Excel’s Bangistan in the coming fortnight and a soulful love ballad in the film ‘Haye Dil’ besides a couple of more film songs in the latter half of the year.
