The Newage Voice of Bollywood: Jonita Gandhi, Singer In January this year, she released 'Love Like That' which was followed in February with her first EP. But success in the Indian music industry doesn't come easy, and Jonita gave us a brutal insight into its realities
By Kabir Singh Bhandari •
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Fighter. Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahani. Brahmastra. Dangal. These are just a few of the movies that singer Jonita Gandhi has on her CV. Debuting as a vocalist for Bollywood in 2013, she currently has sung over 150 film songs, more than 60 independent releases and several awards to her name. She has performed with top composers and artists in India and the world, including AR Rahman, Pritam Chakraborty, Sonu Nigam, and Carlos Santana. Her online presence can be gauged by the following numbers: Over 18 million monthly listeners on Spotify, 3 million followers on Instagram, and over 1 million YouTube subscribers.
I started singing along when my dad would be rehearsing at home. I started experimenting with the arts whenever I had the opportunity, with extra-curricular activities at school and that's how it all started
Growing up in a family that appreciates music, her father would play the guitar and sang in college. After getting married and moving to Canada with his family, he started playing the keyboard and performing at local events. "Naturally, I started singing along when my dad would be rehearsing at home. I started experimenting with the arts whenever I had the opportunity, with extra-curricular activities at school and that's how it all started," Jonita told us.
In January this year, she released 'Love Like That' which was followed in February with her first EP. But success in the Indian music industry doesn't come easy, and Jonita gave us a brutal insight into its realities.
"The music industry is very volatile and unpredictable. It takes a huge toll on your physical and mental well-being sometimes because of crazy work hours, and the unpredictability. I think people don't realize that there are so many low periods where we're trying to stay relevant and that's a lot of work. If we're not under their radar, people forget that we exist. Another thing is that it's competitive. People don't see how many other artists are contending for the same spots on playlists or on playback songs. Also, the fact that success is not always correlated to merit or hard work. That's a hard thing to digest because it becomes difficult to motivate yourself to keep going if you feel like the harder you work isn't necessarily going to give you better results," she explained.
