‘Are men having sex with themselves?’: Sona Mohapatra says Bollywood’s heartbreaking songs ‘are reserved for men’; calls out gender bias | Hindi Film News
Sona Mohapatra has reignited the conversation about gender bias in Bollywood music. The singer, known for her outspoken personality, claims that heartbreak and romantic songs are overwhelmingly dominated by male artists. It leaves little creative space for women for the same reason, she added.
Sona Mohapatra takes aim at Bollywood’s male-centric music industry
In a video shared on her Instagram account from an event she attended, Mohapatra pointedly pointed out the marginalization of female singers even in duets. Recalling her experience with the 2017 Raees hit song “Zaalima,” originally sung by Raees Arijit Singh Take a photo with Harshdeep Kaur Shah Rukh Khan And Mahira Khan, she said, “All those heart-breaking songs in Bollywood are reserved for men. Men have sadness, and contemporary men have love. Because every time I get called up to sing a duet, I somehow get the ending chorus. You must have heard this song called “Zaalima”. This is Arijit [Singh]song, I was asked to sing this song and I was shocked. “
Sona Mohapatra questions Bollywood duet structure
When asked why female voices always appear only in the last moments of songs, she added, “Because mukhra, antara, mukhra, antara… all of them are taken up by men. It’s not Arijit’s fault; he is a great artist. But why is it a female voice at the end? My question is Pritan It’s, “Is this man having sex with himself?” What kind of duet is this? …The thing is, and it’s no one’s fault, but the music system in the industry has become so risk-averse. “Sona took the debate to the comments section of her post, linking the lack of female-led songs to the broader 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.”She further believes that this imbalance is systemic and long-standing, rather than accidental. Sona adds, “The problem is not that women have never sung heartbreaking songs. The problem is that Bollywood doesn’t write enough songs anymore. For almost two decades, 80-90% of the most romantic and heartbreaking stories have been narrated by male voices, and we shouldn’t be surprised when the industry struggles to produce female music stars on the same cultural scale. This is a conversation about the system, not the victims. Count the songs. So let’s talk, shall we? “Mohapatra has previously spoken out about sexism, objectification and the lack of female agency in mainstream Indian cinema, but she remains one of the industry’s most consistent and fearless voices on gender representation.
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