Sona Mohapatra

• Name — Sona Mohapatra • Occupation — Singer, Music Composer, Songwriter, Producer

Sona is from Odisha, born in an Odia family. She did B.Tech. engineering graduate from the Odisha University of Technology and Research in Mechanical Engineering. She also obtained an MBA degree from Symbiosis Centre for Management & HRD, Pune in marketing and Systems.

Her first ventures in the music industry started with advertising. One of her most famous jingles was for Tata Salt, "Kal Ka Bharat Hai" and the campaign for Unilever's Close Up has a section of her song "Paas Aao Na," which has been recorded in several languages and aired across 13 countries for four consecutive years. In 2006, she released her debut album, Sona, on Sony BMG, which sought to explore the diverse styles of rock, rhythm and blues, Flamenco, Hindustani, Baul and Romani music. In 2009, she released the single Diljale & Paas Aao Na in the same year. She sang the song "Bedardi Raja" in the movie Delhi Belly for Aamir Khan Productions and did a cameo in it. She has also sung the theme songs "Mujhe Kya Bechega Rupaiya" and "Ghar Yaad Aata Hai Mujhe" for the TV show Satyamev Jayate. • Illustration — Sona Mohapatra at the Women's Empowerment's concert in New Delhi, August 2012 Sona Mohapatra came to mainstream prominence with the talk show Satyamev Jayate with Aamir Khan, in which she frequently appeared as a lead singer and performer. She was also the executive producer of the musical project on the same show. Her cameo performances recorded more than 9 million views across sites as per the latest digital count. She confessed in a 2012 interview that the project was all consuming in terms of the emotional and physical energies invested. It involved multiple lyricists, unconventional subjects, and lots of brainstorming on the songs, lyrics, shoots and recordings. To top it all, all songs were translated and recorded in multiple languages. According to Sona, "Odia influences in Bollywood are rare as yet – unlike an overdose of Punjabi, Rajasthani, Bengali and even Southern music". The song "Mujhe Kya Bechega Rupaiya," sung by Mohapatra, was composed by Ram Sampath and was aired on the third episode of Satyamev Jayate, based on celebrating women's freedom. The song has received over 26 million hits on T-Series' YouTube channel.

Mohapatra is married to Ram Sampath, a song composer and music director in Bollywood. She first met him in 2002, while she was still working as a brand manager with Marico. They were introduced by director Ram Madhvani, with whom Sampath was working for Let's Talk (2002); they married in 2005. Ram later became a household name for his innovative score of the film Delhi Belly (2011), followed by Satyamev Jayate (2012) and Talaash (2012). She is partners with Sampath in their music production house OmGrown Music and reside in Mumbai, where they also have their own studios.

In October 2018, she accused Kailash Kher and Anu Malik of sexual misconduct. In 2019, Mohapatra received a death threat after she lashed out at Salman Khan for constantly taking digs at Priyanka Chopra for leaving Bharat.

Mohapatra released a documentary film based on her life called Shut Up Sona which won multiple awards at different film festivals.

• Film — Year — Song — Composer(s) — Writer(s) — Co-singer(s) — Ref. • Family — 2006 — "Lori" — Ram Sampath — Sameer • Jumbo — 2008 — "Chayee Madhoshiyan" — Israr Ansari — Sonu Nigam • "Chayee Madhoshiyan" (Remix Version) • Aagey Se Right — 2009 — "Daav Laga" — Munna Dhiman • I Hate Luv Storys — 2010 — "Bahara" — Vishal–Shekhar — Kumaar — Shreya Ghoshal • Delhi Belly — 2011 — "Bedardi Raja" — Ram Sampath — Akshat Verma • "Bedardi Raja" (Grind Mix Version) • "I Hate You (Like I Love You)" — Keerthi Sagathia, Shazneen Arethna • Talaash: The Answer Lies Within — 2012 — "Jiya Laage Na" — Ram Sampath — Javed Akhtar — Ravindra Upadhyay • Fukrey — 2013 — "Ambarsariya" — Ram Sampath — Munna Dhiman • Bajatey Raho — "Khurafati Akhiyan" — Jaidev Kumar — Kumaar • Purani Jeans — 2014 — "Dil Aaj Kal" (Acoustic Version) — Ram Sampath — Prashant Ingole • Khoobsurat — "Naina" — Amal Malik — Kumaar — Armaan Malik • Ekkees Toppon Ki Salaami — "Ghoor Ghoor Ke" — Ram Sampath — Sandeep Nath • Hunterrr — 2015 — "Chori Chori" — Khamosh Nath — Arijit Singh • Raman Raghav 2.0 — 2016 — "Qatle-E-Aam" — Ram Sampath — Varun Grover — Yash Divecha • Global Baba — "Holi Me Ude" — Angel Roman & Faizan Hussain — Shurya Upadhyay — Khesari Lal Yadav • Saand Ki Aankh — 2019 — "Baby Gold" — Vishal Mishra — Raj Shekhar — Jyotica Tangri • Taish — 2020 — "Re Bawree (Jahan Lost in Love)" — Govind Vasantha — Hussain Haidry • Laapataa Ladies — 2024 — "Beda Paar" — Ram Sampath — Prashant Pandey

• Satyamev Jayate – Mujhe Kya Bechega Rupaiya, Ghar Yaad Aata Hai Mujhe, Chanda Pe Dance, and Bekhauff

• Sona (Songs – Bolo Na, Aja Ve, Tere Ishq Nachaya, Abhi Nahin Ana)

• Love is (2007) – Afterglow • Teri Deewani – Ishq Nachaya • Aao Ji – Aja Ve • Soulful Sufi (2009) – Abhi Nahin Anaa

• Dekh Le (2013)

• "Zalima" (from Raees)