Cover Story: Jonita Gandhi: The Artist’s Wild Ride to Success in Bollywood

When we sat down to chat with Indo-Canadian singer Jonita Gandhi, she’d just wrapped up a nearly seven-hour cover shoot at a suburban studio in Mumbai. Her mood is supremely upbeat and she’s showing absolutely no signs of jet lag despite a trans-Atlantic long-haul flight. Her North America concert tour with the Oscar and Grammy-winning composer A.R. Rahman had culminated only a couple of days ago. “The last show was in Toronto, my hometown. It was amazing,” she gushes.   

Gandhi has been a touring member for Rahman’s band for a while now, and is a frequent collaborator with the legend on his many projects that span film soundtrack, independent releases and beyond. Her multilingual vocal prowess across regional music industries is well-established now, and by the sound of it, the singer is enjoying every bit of it. “I’m not a formula person. I don’t know who I am. So, I feel like I’ve experimented with different genres and languages and styles and all of that I feel is now shaping who I am,” says the singer with hits such as “Chennai Express” (Chennai Express, 2012), “The Breakup Song” (Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, 2016), “Chellama,” (Doctor, 2020) and more recently, “Arabic Kutthu” from this year’s Tamil action-comedy biggie Beast. Her song “Deva Deva”with composer Pritam, from the much-talked-about Bollywood Brahmastra, has been raking in some unprecedented numbers across streaming platforms too. 

But Gandhi’s ride to becoming a reliable playback voice didn’t didn’t happen with her playing gigs or releasing music of her own, rather it was via video sharing platform YouTube that she first garnered attention. The singer’s covers of Bollywood hits like “Pani Da Rang,” “Suhaani Raat,” “Tujhko Jo Paaya,” “Yeh Honsla” and “Tum Hi Ho” to name a few went viral and amassed tons of views. It was through YouTube that Gandhi managed to become a legitimate internet turned playback star of this generation whose discoverability happened entirely online. 

We’ve talked before about how while growing up in Canada, your father who is also a musician, played a big role in shaping those early years for you as an artist. What do you recall from that time and what was the music he turned you onto? 

So, I think my dad’s influence on me looking back, I think the way he instilled core values and just how to conduct myself around people, I feel like that has been more instrumental in shaping me as an artist. Even more so than the musical influence that he’s had on me. Just work ethic… things like how to be professional, how to be responsible when it comes to working with other musicians and in the music field in general, I feel like that has shaped me more as an artist actually than the music. 

My dad is a musician by hobby. He’s never trained, and I’ve never trained either. So, I think that was a huge inspiration for me as well, to see that when you’re really passionate about something, even if you don’t have formal training, you can really go far in it. My dad never took it up professionally and I think I’m the first one in the family to kind of take it far or to do it as my day job. But I think that all of the influence of my dad playing music around the house and then convincing me that I have something special. 

So, growing up with him, it was mostly Bollywood music, but then also a lot of like ABBA and random music that he grew up listening to. But then growing up in Toronto in general, I was just exposed to everything. So, I was a big fan of people like Lauren Hill, Mariah Carey, Beyoncé… It was just a mixed bag having that home Indian influence and then going to school and then hearing like R&B and pop music.  

Fast-forward a few years since then, and then you discovered this platform called YouTube where there was a tectonic shift in your path to be a musician. What led you to YouTube and also, was it daunting at first to put yourself out there? 

I feel like now with the brain I have, if YouTube just came on, I’d be like, ‘Oh my God, that’s such a great way for me to do music and put myself out there.” That time it didn’t click at all. Really It was more like I consumed it more than I thought of putting videos out myself. Because I was such a big consumer of it, I started watching a lot of videos while I was studying for exams and listening to instrumental music. That’s how I found Aakash Gandhi, the guy who I ended up collaborating with. Then I started putting out little selfie videos of myself too out there. But it wasn’t until I collaborated with Aakash that I felt like that tectonic shift as you called it, kind of clicked in my head of like, ‘Oh my God, this is such a great platform for me to use to reach people.’  

When did you notice that the work you put into YouTube began to pay off?   

I think it was a cover we did of ‘Pani Da Rang’ from Vicky Donor {2012) and Ayushmann Khurrana whose song it is, I think he shared it and then Amitabh Bachchan had shared it or something on Twitter. I think that’s when it really clicked for us and we were like, ‘Okay, people like this, we should do more.’ 

Take me back to when you first met A.R. Rahman in Chennai and having since worked with him in the studio and being part of his live shows, what were those experiences like for you? 

I think it was 2014 when I actually met him. I moved to India in 2013 and a year later I think is when I met him and I was starstruck and never did I ever imagine, first of all, meeting him or working with him or the fact that now so many years later, I still work with him. I still tour with him. I record with him. And a lot of people associate us together, actually associate me with him. I feel very proud of that. 

Before I ask about your career in Bollywood, I want to touch upon the work you’ve done with Indian independent artists, you’ve worked with acts such as ViceVersa, Anish Sood and others in the past. What is it that you enjoy about the independent music scene in the country? 

So, I’ve always been interested, but I feel like I’ve never had the courage to dabble within the independent scene. Because I wanted to kind of come out more as a songwriter and I still feel like I’m honing that skill, but through collaborations, like you’ve mentioned with a lot of other amazing independent artists, I feel like I’ve been able to reach a whole new audience and experiment more and learn more about what my voice can do and who I am as an artist. I think it’s a lifelong journey obviously, but definitely like that song with ViceVersa (“Lose Control”), I remember that was the first time I did a music video where like I had to be hot in the video [laughs] and not just be like the girl that everyone thinks I am, which is like the girl who does covers and Lata Ji songs and is super flowery. I don’t know how else to describe it, but it was really cool for me to tap into that other energy, which is totally still me. Because I grew up listening to a lot of dance hall I feel like that influence was there in that song as well, because I wrote my part in that song and I composed my part in that song. I just feel like it was a great creative outlet for me that I don’t think I would ever get in Bollywood. 

Is it fair to say that your discoverability through YouTube, has led to the work you now do with Bollywood?  

For sure. My first song with Vishal–Shekhar came about because he had already seen my covers. So, it kind of acted as my demo. 

Is there a need for versatility in what you do for Bollywood? 

Definitely. I’m not a formula person. I don’t know who I am. So, I feel like I’ve experimented with different genres and languages and styles and all of that I feel is now shaping who I am. But definitely, I’ve always strived to be versatile. And I feel like all the opportunities I’ve got in Bollywood and outside of Bollywood have helped me do that and achieve that. I think now a lot of people refer to me as somebody who’s very versatile because I sing in lots of languages and styles.  

Is it easy for you to sing in one language and then move to the next one?  

It’s a piece of cake, I was born with this skill! [Laughs] No, I’m kidding. It’s just ear training. I find it challenging, but I really enjoy it. I love that I can connect with people who I can’t even have a conversation with. Technically if they’re in front of me, we don’t speak the same language, but through my music and through my expression in the songs I sing in their language, I’m able to connect and I think that’s beautiful. 

In today’s age of digital content being created almost every day, are the avenues broader for artists or do you think artists need that one big break? 

I don’t think so. I mean, I hear about artists who’ve been at it for years and years and years, but they’re not heard of yet until they get that one song that goes viral. But then they’ll have a niche market. They’ll have a niche audience that they’ve been growing for that many years and you’ll run into people who are like, ‘Oh I’m an OG fan.’ Everything’s changing and I think you don’t need to have one hit. I think the more you put out there the better. 

As an artist, are you exactly where you want to be right now? 

No. I think if you ask me that till the day I die, I’ll probably say no. 

What are you currently working on and what’s in the pipeline? 

So much. I’m really excited. Because in terms of like my songwriting, I’ve been working on it a lot recently and I feel like I’m finally honing in on a few songs and a vibe for myself when it comes to me expressing myself as an independent artist. I’ve also been doing a lot more Punjabi singles and I’m Punjabi, so I’m really excited to just bring out different sides of my personality that people don’t know exist. 

What more can you tell me about these songs you’re working on? 

I’m doing a few Punjabi songs with [music label] Treehouse. I might even put out an EP, we’re working on it right now. I’m not sure like how we’re going to package it, but there’s a lot of music actually already made and, in the works, and then a lot of English stuff that I’m writing as well. And then there’s playback stuff happening. I’m going to try to keep doing my covers as well because that’s what started me out. 

What’s the one tip that someone gave you that you still use today, and do you have any tips for young artists? 

My mom used to always tell me ‘dil se gao’ (sing from the heart). It doesn’t matter what you’re singing and if you know what to do or not, as long as you sing from the heart, you will connect with people. That’s something that is so, so simple when she said it and she was saying it to just kind of make me not stress. But I feel like it was really profound, especially for somebody who, like I said, sings in so many different languages and I don’t always understand the songs that I’m singing, but I feel like if I’m singing from my heart, people will feel that. And it’ll be honest, and it’ll resonate with people and I feel that’s kind of taken me through till today. 

Wow I feel so old, I have to give tips to new people? I’m still new, give me tips! [Laughs] Work hard on finding your original sound. I don’t think I did that enough in the beginning. I feel like I’m doing it more now. And work hard on finding the sound that makes you, you and makes you happy. There’s no formula that’s going to work, that’s my biggest tip. 

Photographer: Keegan Crasto  
Art Director: Tanvi Shah  
Fashion Editor: Neelangana Vasudeva  
Brand Director: Tulsi Bavishi  
Art Assistant: Siddhi Chavan  
Fashion Assistant: Chehal Chawla
Makeup by Sunayana Subramaniam  
Hair by Dwyessh Parasanani
Artist PR – Kush PR & Brand Strategist