Singer Sona Mohapatra’s recent tweets on the growing “wannabe celebrity culture” grabbed eyeballs. Many assumed it was a ‘dig’ at actor-singer Shehnaaz Gill, as at one point, Mohapatra had called out Gill for supporting #MeToo accused director Sajid Khan. The artiste feels it’s time we move past the “catfight” imagery and address the issue at hand.

Mohapatra tells us, “I’ve been consistent in sticking my neck out for women’s empowerment and fairplay. So, it’s equally important to call out opportunistic women who are happy to compromise whatever little ideals they have to pursue their ambitions of fame and fortune by siding with well-established male sexual predators. It’s not like we’ve ever received something even remotely resembling acknowledgement of their wrongdoings, from men like Sajid Khan or (singer) Anu Malik. When women side with them and play dumb, it’s disturbing.”

She goes on to talk about her tweets being misconstrued to make it seem like a ‘dig’. “If we expect men to do and be better, don’t those standards apply to women as well? To read headlines of me ‘lashing out’, ‘slamming’ or ‘taking a dig’ at another woman is disturbing. It is a cliché of the patriarchal mindset,” says the singer, who recently released a song, Roti Machine.

Amid times of “disturbingly popular music videos” portraying women suffering in the name of love, Mohapatra hopes her latest track can drive change in the narrative around women. “See Dhokha by Afsana Khan (singer)... Women are portrayed as gold-diggers who need ‘shopping’ to be won over or are objectified, while the men have swag. This puts a lot of unnecessary pressure on young men to provide, apart from creating a sick stereotype for women. Roti Machine is one such musical response I put out, where we say that love is a two-way street. You have to give respect to get respect,” she concludes.

Soon after Punjabi singer Sidhu Moose Wala’s death in May, we had reported that composers Salim-Sulaiman were looking forward to releasing a single with him in June. Now, the composer duo will drop the song, Jaandi Vaar, on September 2, as a tribute to Moose Wala. “It feels surreal that Sidhu is not around. This song was supposed to release on June 8 and he was assassinated on May 29,” says Salim Merchant.

Sharing how the track worked out, he adds, “In 2021, Afsana Khan (singer) suggested that we work with Sidhu. I had a Punjabi composition, so I went to meet him. When I played the composition, Sidhu said, ‘Sir, mujhe thoda waqt de do. I will definitely sing this, but I need time to prepare’. I figured that Sidhu preferred singing his own lyrics and compositions. I listened to one of his songs and loved it. So, I composed some notes for the female part (sung by Afsana) and the song went on to become Jaandi Vaar.”

Salim took to social media to share that some proceeds from the song’s earnings would go to the late musician’s family. “We connected with his company, which is a platform where you can own a part of the song for a certain amount of money. So, every time the song makes money, we get equity. It was a great way to create a fund that can be given to Sidhu’s family. This is a way for me and Sulaiman to pay respects to his family and to keep Sidhu alive in our hearts forever,” he wraps up.

On Sunday, Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu aka Sidhu Moose Wala’s murder sent shockwaves in Punjab. The singer-politician, 28, was shot dead in a firing incident at Jawaharke in Mansa district. The incident happened only a day after the Punjab Police ordered the withdrawal of security of 424 people, including that of Moose Wala.

The Congress leader, who rose to fame because of his popular and controversial Punjabi numbers, was to release his next song in a week’s time. Speaking to mid-day, music composer Salim Merchant, who had collaborated with him on the track, said, “The news is shocking. He was extremely soft-spoken, and respectful. When I went to him with our composition, he said he first wanted to collaborate on a song he had written. The track was recorded in Chandigarh last year, but we had paused [work on] the project [after that] because he was campaigning around for the Punjab elections.”

They were slated to launch the poster on June 2 with co-singer Afsana Khan. “[His sudden demise is] so unfortunate,” added Merchant.

Moose Wala had contested the Punjab assembly election on a Congress ticket from Mansa, and was defeated by AAP candidate Vijay Singla. Soon after his demise, condolences started pouring in. Canada-based gangster Goldy Brar, an aide of gang leader Lawrence Bishnoi, reportedly claimed responsibility for the murder.

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