Spirited In The Arts: Sona Mohapatra

Text by Simone Louis. Photograph by Ryan Martis. Styling by Anuradha Gandhi. All Bags from Louis Vuitton SC Collection. All Make-Up and Hair by Jean-Claude Biguine Salon & Spa. Make-Up: Abhilasha Singh, Nilofer Tabassum, Farhin Sayed. Hair: Zaara Shaikh, Sakshi Nymapally, Sushil Borade, Shailesh Shetty

Verve handpicks women achievers who share the essence of Louis Vuitton’s Sofia Coppola collection

Having worked as a marketing manager for seven years in an FMCG firm, post a B. Tech and MBA degree, before leaving it to become a musician, music producer and entrepreneur Sona Mohapatra’s journey to the entertainment world has been serendipitous. Maintaining that she wouldn’t trade her education for anything, the singer — who eventually partnered with Ram Sampath to start OmGrown Music — admits that despite her technical background, she’d always been a keen student of the arts. “In a world with a shrinking attention span, defined by a constant search for the next big gimmick or trend, we value the consistently truly creative people more with every passing day,” she muses, explaining that the collective global reaction to the recent deaths of musicians David Bowie (who she has collaborated with) and Prince is a testament to this.

Even with Bollywood hits like Ambarsariya, Bedardi Raja, Daav Laga and Naina, Mohapatra’s first love is folk music, one that she uses to try and bridge the gap between legacy and modernity…which hasn’t been an easy task.

“I’ve faced a lot of challenges professionally because I don’t sound like anyone else and I don’t shy away from speaking my mind. Nonetheless, I believe my approach has paid off in the long run, as my allies in the business are true supporters.”

The touring season of late has been exceptionally fulfilling, what with the artiste and her band playing in 51 cities within a span of seven months. But she has big plans for the future, some of which go beyond the realm of music. The outspoken musician is working on her next album and a series of international collaborations. Starting later this year, each single will be accompanied by documentary-style travel videos offering social commentary.

Simultaneously, she hopes to take her clever social project #CelebrateIndianWeaves to the next level by seeking out collaborators. “I want to get government support and also gather traction amongst music lovers to promote and help the Indian weaving community.”

Read about the next achiever.