‘Rangabati @ MTV Coke Studio’ crosses 10 Lakh Viewership on YouTube

Thanks to the ongoing controversy and outrage among a certain section of society in Odisha over the alleged distortion of original Sambalpuri ‘Rangabati’ song, the fusion version sung by Sona Mohapatra, has now crossed 10 lakh viewership on YouTube.

At 10 AM on July 9, 2015, the viewership of Rangbati fusion video on YouTube stood at 1,038,862. 15,380 viewers liked it, while 894 people disliked it.

In the first three days, the video had crossed 4 lakh viewership and was widely appreciated by many people. However, when other people pointed out the errors and even questioned the singers and producers for creating the remix without the permission of the copyright holders, a massive outrage was triggered.

Lyricist of the original song, Mitrabhanu Gauntia and Music Director Prabhudatta Pradhan have filed a defamation suit worth Rs 1 crore against Hindustan Coca Cola Beverages Pvt Ltd, Hindustan Coca Cola Holdings Pvt Ltd, Viacom 18 Media Pvt Ltd, singer Sona Mohapatra, musician Ram Sampath and co-singer Rituraj Mohanty.

Later, a FIR has been filed by BJP’s Yuva Morcha in Sambalpur against the singers for hurting the sentiments of Odia people, especially people from Sambalpur and Western Odisha.

The ‘Rangabati’ song was mixed with ‘Vande Utkal Janani’ by Music Director Ram Sampath. While Sona bewitched the audience with ‘Rangabati’, Rituraj sang ‘Vande Utkal Janani’ to make them emotional. Rajesh and Tony did their part with the Tamil rap, which also went well with the viewers.