Published 13:56 IST, July 27th 2020
Sona Mohapatra claims 'not subtle' snub of Ambarsariya by Akhtars: 'Never got 2nd chance'
With the ongoing debate about "mafia culture" in Bollywood, many artists including Sona Mohapatra have voiced the injustice done to them by industry bigwigs.
Singer Sona Mohapatra is among the many Bollywood artists who have raised their voice against the unfair practices prevalent in the industry. She took to Twitter to respond to a post about the culture of "subtle boycott" and threats in the film industry and shared the experience of working with Excel entertainment headed by Farhan Akhtar and his friend Ritesh Sidhwani. The 2013 film Fukrey which was produced by Excel had a romantic track- Ambarsariya- sung by Sona Mohapatra which, she alleges, was strongly disliked by Farhan and his father, veteran lyricist Javed Akhtar.
Following their personal preferences, Akhtar denied Sona "a second chance" in the industry after she allegedly begged and stood up to the "masters" to get a rough video montage for the popular song. She revealed through her tweet that the makers had initially decided against shooting a music video for the song.
Sona's revelation comes as a confirmation of the claim by Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut that veteran lyricist Javed Akhtar has unmatched power in the functioning of the film industry. She had cited her own experience and revealed astonishing details about how he had intimidated her into apologizing to Hrithik Roshan after their infamous relationship controversy in 2013. Sona's tweet also reinforces Kangana's claims that the "real powerful people" in the film industry control fates of artists.
On Sunday, Oscar-winning music composer AR Rahman also made a sensational revelation in conversation with a regional radio station about his personal experience with Bollywood's alleged 'gangism'. He revealed that he works more frequently in Tamil cinema than in Hindi films because certain people in Bollywood have been spreading rumours about him and minimizing his chances of getting good work.
Sona, known to be among the outspoken artists of the film industry, had recently stated that she did not want to be a part of the ‘TV Tamasha’ when offered to be a ‘nemesis’ to the ‘boss’, referring to Salman Khan, on Bigg Boss last year. She is known to take several digs at the actor, calling him the ‘poster boy of toxic masculinity’ over his tweet on Sushant Singh Rajput’s fans and slamming him when he had joked about Priyanka Chopra quitting his film for her marriage.
Updated 13:56 IST, July 27th 2020