Sona Mohapatra enchants Delhi audience at Sufi Heritage Festival 2026
If you have heard the very popular jingle Paas Aao Na from the Close Up commercial, you already know the husky, richly timbred voice behind it belongs to popular playback singer Sona Mohapatra, much loved by music lovers across India.
Mohapatra began with jingles before she moved to cinema, singing Lori in the 2006 Amitabh Bachchan-starrer film, Family. From the playful romance of Ambarsariya in Fukrey, to the expressive, coy Bedardi Raja in Delhi Belly, and the aching tenderness of Naina from Khoobsurat, her presence across Bollywood playlists is unmistakable.
At the recent Sufi Heritage Festival, classic Sufiana kalaam with timeless melodies such as Tere Ishq Nachaya, Chhap Tilak, and Nit Khair Manga, was to lead to her original compositions including Dum Dum Andar, Anhad Naad, and Jiya Lage Na; the set also was to travel from the poetry of Kabir and Mirabai to the Baul of Shyam Piya and Baadila, culminating in the folk-rooted bhakti pulse of Odisha’s Jai Phulo Re – Rangabati.
“I consciously thought of bringing Bhakti music into the Sufi Heritage Festival space. In Delhi, the Bhakti and Sufi traditions have always been in dialogue — both speak of longing, surrender, divine love. It’s a journey of the untamed beloved, where devotion is fierce, sensual, questioning, ecstatic,” Mohapatra told us ahead of her Delhi performance.
You’re returning to Delhi to perform, What does performing here mean to you at this stage of your journey, and how has your relationship with the city evolved over time?
To play at Sunder Nursery under the open skies fills me with unbridled joy and bliss. I’m not expecting a casual audience — I’m counting on one that listens with memory and with history.
Over the years, India has seen me in many avatars — from early-career performances to politically charged moments, from rockstar gigs to deeply devotional ones. I don’t feel the need to prove anything here. I feel free to be fully myself. To me, the greatest act of spirituality is honesty. When you stand on stage without armour — that is prayer.
Indie albums, Bollywood films, television and live concept shows — what excites you most today?
The independent space—it has no brief. No formula. No checkbox. Concept-led shows like 24K, Lal Pari Mastani, and now Untamed Beloved excite me the most because they allow music, storytelling, visual splendour, stagecraft, philosophy and identity to merge.
After nearly two decades in the industry, what lessons have shaped you most as an artist?
That talent alone isn’t enough. That speaking up has consequences. And that longevity comes from self-belief, not trends.
Beyond playback singing, you’ve composed, curated immersive concept shows, and built your own production house. How do you define your core identity as an artist today?
I have always seen myself as a cultural storyteller and a curator of experiences, a social commentator, and a producer running an independent music production house and label, Omgrown Music, for nearly two decades. I wear many hats.
Projects like Untamed Beloved challenge the narrow idea that a singer is just a voice hired for a song. I build worlds now. I create immersive journeys. My core identity will always be that of an independent artist who expresses in multiple ways — including how I dress.
What role does independent music play in India’s ecosystem today, and where is your own musical journey headed next?
Independent music is no longer peripheral. It is shaping taste. Digital platforms have democratised access, but they’ve also created noise. The challenge now is depth, not just visibility.
For me, the journey ahead involves more thematic, immersive bodies of work — possibly new albums rooted in philosophy and Indian classical thought, but expressed in a contemporary idiom.
How do you see Bollywood as a musical space today?
There’s more algorithm-driven choices. Fewer risks. Yet, artists are no longer dependent on films alone to be heard. That shift is healthy.
You’ve spoken critically about remixes and credit culture. Do you think music labels today nurture originality?
Remixes, when done creatively, can be interesting. Labels today are navigating business pressures, and many prioritise short-term virality. For me, originality and proper crediting, including of original creative forces, must be protected fiercely. Otherwise, we risk becoming a culture that only recycles and creates nothing new — and normalising the erasure of credit is the beginning of the end.
After Delhi, what’s next?
More live shows. New independent releases. The continued evolution of my show Untamed Beloved. I’m also working on music initiatives that create platforms for emerging artists.
This article is written by Adithi Reena Ajith