Singer Harassed While Performing 'Jago Maa'. What Is The Song All About?

Bengali singer Lagnajita Chakraborty was allegedly harassed for performing the song "Jago Maa" during a concert on Saturday, sparking widespread criticism.

A man has been arrested for allegedly targeting the popular singer for not singing a "secular" song and instead performing what he perceived as a "religious" number at a private school in East Midnapore's Bhagwanpur.

So what is the song all about?

According to the singer, she performed the track from the upcoming Bengali movie Devi Chowdhurani. The song's lyricist, Ritam Sen, clarified to NDTV that the song is based on "motherhood and not a Goddess."

"What happened to Lagnajita during her show was completely unacceptable," Sen told NDTV. "One needs to understand that the lyrics of 'Jago Maa' are not about any deity. The song is themed around a mother and the concept of motherhood, representing feminine energy."

He added that the song was created as a promotional video for the film and is based on the iconic character of Devi Chowdhurani, not the Goddess Durga.

Directed by Subhrajit Mitra and starring Prosenjit Chatterjee and Srabanti Chatterjee, Devi Chowdhurani is a historical drama adapted from Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay's classic novel.

Recalling the incident, Lagnajita said, "I had finished my seventh song and was communicating with the audience before starting the eighth. I had just finished 'Jago Maa' and was explaining the details of the song to the crowd when I saw a man come running onto the stage. He looked like he wanted to hit me."

"When he realised that, well, he really could not manage to beat me up, even after all this. While he was being pulled away from me, he shouted and said, 'Enough of your Jaago Ma, now sing something secular," Langajita added further.