Bhubaneswar: Singer Sona Mohapatra drew flak again for her latest rendition of the epical Odia Bhajan ‘Ahe Nila Saila’ written by renowned Odia poet Salabega. Sona stirred a hornet’s nest by pronouncing a few words from the bhajan wrongly.
In the video which she posted on YouTube and Twitter, she pronounced Salabega as ‘Sale bega’, Charana as ‘Charane’, Shrianga as ‘Chhiranga’ and Matta as ‘Maatra’.
When it was spotted on social media Sona was trolled severely by many Odias and literary associations for her pronunciation errors. There was a long thread of conversations on Twitter. However, the singer ignored all criticism.
Sona always experiments with Odia songs. Some of them have brought laurels along with criticism. Sona had drawn widespread criticism for her remix of the cult Sambalpuri song Rangabati.
Odia Bhasa Andolan Convenor Pabitra Maharatha said Sona had shown disrespect to Lord Jagannath. Pabitra also said the singer should be treated as a habitual offender for mocking Odias and their culture.
Odissi vocalist Guru Kesaba Chandra Rout said it was a shame for Odisha that an Odia woman can’t even pronounce Odia words properly. “The Bhajan symobolises Odia culture. She has damaged our reputation. She must sing without touching our culture connected songs.”
Music exponent Prafulla Kar said, “Sona Mohapatra has no connection to the devotional music of Odisha. She habitually disrespects and distorts music. No one hears her, she makes news by creating controversies. Let’s not give her undue importance by discussing about her.”
Eminent vocalist Sangita Gosian said, “Odias will never forgive Sona for trying to distort such a soulful Bhajan. One must never play with the emotions of Lord Jagannath’s devotional music”.
Another noted Odissi vocalist Shyamamani Devi also criticised Sona. “She can experiment with songs but she has no right to pronounce words wrongly. Poet Salabega was an ardent devotee of Lord Jagannath. How can she be so careless with words? Her insensitiveness to Odia culture has ashamed us. All intellectuals should raise their voice against what she did.”