Amongst the most outspoken figures in Indian music today, singer, songwriter and fusion artiste Sona Mohapatra has been at the centre of several art, culture and gender-biased debates. More recently, she took it upon herself to find answers to why everyone often takes issue with her stance on socio-cultural matters.
Her upcoming documentary, Shut Up Sona , which is directed by Deepti Gupta, was an official selection spotlight at the Mumbai Film Festival in 2019 and premièred at Toronto’s Hot Docs festival-at-home edition on May 7. In the documentary, the artiste takes on haters, embraces critics and tries to highlight why artistes should be given their space even in the seemingly never-ending tussle between ancient and modern culture in India.
As a musician who has a multi-genre approach to her songs and albums, Mohapatra also occasionally sings for films as well as bigger productions such as Coke Studio . Through the course of nearly two decades, the classically-trained singer has also often interpreted traditional music and poetry for her version of ‘Aigiri Nandini’ and ‘Tori Surat.’
Mohapatra will be speaking to The Hindu Weekend about Shut Up Sona , how songwriters can stay creative and inspired during the lockdown period, personal favourite songs that provide her comfort during this pandemic and what is being decided as the way forward.
This edition of the #lockdownwithweekend series featuring Sona Mohapatra is on Saturday, May 9, at 6 pm IST.
