gold pot Bollywood has revived the conversation around gender bias in music. The singer, known for her outspoken persona, claims that heartbreak and romantic songs are overwhelmingly dominated by male artists. She adds that for the same reason, it leaves little creative space for women.
Sona Mohapatra targets the male-centric music industry of Bollywood
In a video shared on his Instagram account of the event he attended, Mohapatra made an astute observation about how even female singers are sidelined in duets. Raees recalls his experience with the 2017 hit song ‘Jalima’, originally sung by Arijit Singh And Harshdeep Kaur and his pictures Shah Rukh Khan And Mahira Khan, he said, “All those heartbreaking songs in Bollywood are reserved for men. Men have heartbreak, men feel love nowadays. Because whenever I was called on to sing a duet, I somehow ended up doing the last chorus. You must listen to this song called ‘Zalima’. This is Arijit [Singh]Its song, and I was called to sing it, and I was shocked.”
Sona Mohapatra questions the formation of Bollywood duets
Asked why a woman’s voice is consistently seen at the end of a song, he added, “Because mukhra, antara, mukhra, antara… all have been taken over by men. It’s not Arijit’s fault; he is a great artiste. But why are women coming at the end? My question? I accepted was, ‘Does the man love himself?’ What kind of duet is it? … It’s nobody’s fault, but the music system in the industry has become so vulnerable.”Taking the debate to the comments section of her post, Sona linked the lack of female-led songs to the widespread decline of iconic female music stars in India. She wrote, “This conversation is about representation. If an industry stops creating iconic female narratives, it will eventually stop creating iconic female stars.”He also argued that the imbalance was systemic and chronic, not incidental. Sona added, “It’s not that women have never sung heartbreak songs. The point is that Bollywood has stopped writing enough of them. An industry that has given 80-90% of its biggest romantic and heartbreaking narratives to male voices for nearly two decades should not be surprised when it struggles to produce female music stars of equal cultural scale.” This is a conversation about the system, not the victim. Sing the song. Let’s talk then?”Mohapatra, who has previously spoken out about sexism, objectification and the lack of female agency in mainstream Indian cinema, continues to be the industry’s most consistent and fearless voice on gender representation.
