Sona Mohapatra Slams Bollywood's Gender Bias in Music

Sona Mohapatra has voiced strong criticism regarding the gender imbalance prevalent in Bollywood's music industry, specifically noting the lack of representation for female artists in romantic and heartbreak songs. She argued that these genres are predominantly sung by male artists, which significantly curtails creative opportunities for women.

Mohapatra pointed to duets as an example, where female singers are often assigned only the final chorus, while male voices lead the main sections. This practice, she contends, questions the very nature of these collaborations and points to a risk-averse industry system. She emphasized that this isn't about individual fault but a systemic issue that has persisted for approximately two decades.

Furthermore, Mohapatra linked the scarcity of female-led narratives in music to the decline of iconic female music stars in India. She suggested that an industry consistently favoring male voices in its biggest romantic stories inevitably struggles to produce female artists of comparable cultural significance. This situation, she stated, is a matter of representation and systemic issues rather than individual victimhood.