Sona Mohapatra is a famed Indian singer recognized for her distinguished singing style and moving renditions. She is known to be a popular Indian playback singer. Apart from Hindi film industry her talent has also been featured in music videos, music concerts, albums and advertisements. Sona Mohapatra also works as a lyricist and music composer. She has also achieved success in recording remixes of the songs of David Bowie including `Afterglow`, `INXS` and `Let`s Dance`. Afterglow was exceptionally successful earning her much fame. Sona is also known as a phenomenal live performer who can charm the crowd with her vivacious performances.
Early Life of Sona Mohapatra
Sona Mohapatra was born on 17th June 1978 in Cuttack, Odisha, to a Brahmin family. She has graduated from the College of Engineering and Technology, Bhubaneshwar in engineering with specialization in instrumentation and electronics engineering. Later she did MBA in marketing and systems from Symbiosis Centre for Management and HRD, Pune. After completing her education she started working as the brand manager in Marico where she handled popular brands like Mediker and Parachute. She moved to Mumbai after 2003 giving up her career to follow her dreams in the music world.
Career of Sona Mohapatra
Sona Mohapatra stepped into the world of music with advertisements. Her prominent jingle was featured for Tata Salt - Kal Ka Bharat Hai. Her song `Paas Aao Na` was featured in a section of the universal Close Up campaign which was aired for 4 consecutive years across 133 countries in several languages. In the year 2007, Sona Mohapatra released her debut album named Sona with Sony Records in which she explored a number of styles including Romani, Baul, Hindustani, Flamenco, Rhythm and Blues, Rock music. This garnered her recognition as an independent artist in Indian music industry.
Sona Mohapatra acquired mainstream success with the popular talk show featuring Aamir Khan, named Satyamev Jayate. She lent her voice for the theme songs `Yaad Aata Hai Mujhe` and `Mujhe Kya Bechega Rupaiya` and frequently appeared as a performer and lead singer in the show. She also worked as the executive producer of the musical project for the same show. As per the digital counts, her cameo performances in the show earned over 9 million views. About the music of the show she had stated that it involved unconventional subjects, multiple lyricists and translation into multiple languages. The song `Mujhe Kya Bechega Rupaiya`, aired on third episode of Satyamev Jayate was the composition of her husband Ram Sampath and celebrated the freedom of women. The song was a huge success and received more than 2.5 million hits on YouTube.
In Bollywood, Sona sang the song `Bedardi Raja` from the Bollywood flick Delhi Belly for Aamir Khan Production. She also did a cameo role in the movie. In the movie Talaash, her rendition `Jiya laage Na` received rare reviews earning her further popularity. Apart from this, she has also sung in other Hindi movies such as Fukrey, I Hate Luv Storys, Jumbo, Aagey Se Right and many others. The singer also has her own band along with guitar maestro Sanjoy Das and 5 other musicians. They have rendered electrifying performances in a number of venues in India as well as overseas including Lincoln Center in New York, Siliguri, Chennai, Chandigarh and many others. Sona Mohapatra has also been a part of international Jodhpur RIFF festival organized in the Mehrangarh fort as the lead singer.
Personal Life of Sona Mohapatra
Sona Mohapatra is married to Ram Sampath, a music director and song composer by profession, since 2005. The couple are also partners in their music production house named OmGrown Music.