Sona Mohapatra's song of freedom to release on August 15; see post

Sona Mohapatra

Sona Mohapatra's new single, Raat ke musaafir, highlights the problems women face when working or travelling at night and the need to build safe spaces. The music video releases on Independence Day on Ultra Bollywood. "It tells a story without preaching or patronising anyone," says the singer. "The track is a take on everyone's freedom to be themselves and find others who will support you," adds Ajay Govind, lyricist and director of the music video.

Sharing her concern related to music, in Sona wrote an open letter which read:

I've always been amazed by the popularity of non-film songs by Punjabi artists that are a part of all festivities. Songs like Taarey Gin Gin are great examples of non-film songs that became a rage across India and have lasted the test of time. These were later appropriated by Bollywood, which shows to you that it doesn't take Bollywood's marketing clout to make a super hit song.

For the last two decades, Bollywood has been devaluing the Hindi film song, abusing its creators and pandering to short term returns. This has led to its logical end: Bollywood is now merely regurgitating music from its past. It has lost all creative steam and cultural credibility. It's not the incubator for the next, Gulzar, Majrooh Sultanpuri, even Amitabh Bhattacharya or Madan Mohan, Vishal Bhardwaj or the next Shankar Mahadevan. Instead, it's a demoralising grinder of talent.

Read More: Sona Mohapatra's Open Letter: Stop looking towards Bollywood for validation

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