Sona Mohapatra’s ‘Ahe Nila Saila’ Rendition Evokes Mixed Reactions In Odisha

Outfits like the Odisha Bhasa Andolan and Puri Sachetan Nagarik Manch have strongly criticised the Mohapatra for distorting the Odia language. Convenor of Odia Bhasa Andolan, Pabitra Maharatha, has dubbed her as a habitual offender as she has made all attempts to denigrate the entire Odia race and its pristine culture.

Meanwhile, convenor of Puri Sachetan Nagarik Manch, Prasanna Das has lodged a complaint with Simhadwara police station alleging that she has deliberately distorted the devotional sung for her personal gain.

In his reaction, Ollywood director Akshaya Parija said the rendition by Sona Mohapatra is a broad daylight rape of this time-honoured Odia bhajan, which was composed by Salabega, the legendary Odia poet and an ardent devotee of Lord Jagannath.

Sona had sung this Odia bhajan at a musical concert in Mumbai last year. However, controversy sparked off after the event was uploaded on YouTube on Monday.

In her rendition, Sona has pronounced Salabega as “Sale Bega”, Charana as “Charane” Shrianga as “Chhiranga” and Matta as “Maatra”.

On the other hand, well-known Bhajan singer Shantilata Barik (Chhotray) and Ollywood music director Laxmikanta Palit have advised Sona to be more careful about the language and pronunciation while singing Odia bhajans.

However, senior Congress leader and OPCC president Niranjan Patnaik has strongly supported the Odia singer.

“Sona is an Odia girl. She is not born in Odisha. She is not able to read and write the Odia language either. In spite of this, she is able to sing Odia songs and Bhajans. Maybe she has wrongly pronounced some words for which some people and organisations have even gone to the extent of lodging a complaint against her with the police. The travesty is, while these people are so intolerant towards this innocent Odia girl, they have no problems in tolerating the chief executive of our state (the chief minister) who is a habitual offender of Odia language. My advice to them is, they should lodge a complaint against the head of our state if they have the guts,” the OPCC president pointed out.