Bhubaneswar: Popular singer Sona Mohapatra has created a controversy again with her latest rendition of the popular Odia bhajan ‘Ahe Nila Shaila’ written by Salabega, the renowned Odia poet and an ardent devotee of Lord Jagannath. She performed the music at the Paddy Fields Music Festival in 2017 which she posted on the social media recently.
In a video posted by the singer, she is heard pronouncing ‘Salabega’ as ‘Salebega’, ‘Charana’ as ‘Charane’ and ‘Maatra’ instead of ‘Matta’ in her rendition.
In a statement to a local TV channel, Sona said there is no controversy over her rendition of the Odia bhajan. She also urged people not to rake up debate on such matters. “There is no controversy actually. A conversation maybe and one that helps us all grow and evolve as artistes, humans and as a society. Let’s not make everything into a controversy,” she said.
In his reaction, convener of Odia Bhasa Andolan, Pabitra Maharatha, said the manner in which Mohapatra has ridiculed Lord Jagannath, she should be treated as a habitual offender as she has made all attempts to denigrate the entire Odia race and its pristine culture.
Writer Kedar Mishra said I have no problem with Sona Mohapatra’s creative freedom. She can sing the way she wants. She loves to be arrogant and projects herself to be a non-Odia from Odisha. The way she sings Ahe Nila Shaila …..is atrocious and anyone who loves the language and literature shall feel offended. She takes pride in misspellings and distortions of Odia words. Earlier, she did that with ‘Rangabati’ and now is doing this with ‘Ahe Nila Shaila’. I totally reject her singing while I respect her creative freedom.
Earlier, the singer, who loves experimenting with various Odia songs had landed in soup over remix of cult Sambalpuri song ‘Rangabati’. Police had filed a complaint against Mohapatra at Sambalpur police station.
In May this year, Sona had filed a complaint at Santacruz police station against Madiyar Sufi Foundation over her latest music video ‘Tori Surat’. The foundation had allegedly sent a threatening mail to her.
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