South Asian musicians worldwide truly admire Jonita Gandhi’s path to becoming a professional singer; in over a decade-long career she’s transcended languages and borders to create a diverse discography. While her music career in Indian cinema continues to flourish, Gandhi is also breaking barriers as a solo artist, beyond the world of films. She recently released the single “Love Like That,” which is an introduction of sorts to her upcoming, debut EP.
“Love Like That” also features Ali Sethi, the iconic Pakistani singer behind the 2023 viral “Coke Studio” song, “Pasoori.” This cross-cultural collaboration signifies unity through music that comes through beautifully to the listener. Inspired by a commonly-known Pakistani qawwali — “Ghar Naari Gawari” originally sung by Abu Muhammad and Fareed Ayaz — “Love Like That” is a blend of desi and western sounds.
The long-awaited single comes years after fans began following Gandhi’s journey as a musician. Her rise to fame started with her intentionally-produced YouTube cover videos, that got her the recognition she deserved from professional musicians in the Indian film and music industries.
Gandhi then joined Sonu Nigam’s international tour, which led to her first playback singing opportunity in India for the film, “Chennai Express.” Since then Gandhi has collected several awards and accolades, including touring with legendary music director A.R. Rahman and singing over a hundred tracks for Indian films, pop singles and more.
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When asked about the upcoming EP release, Gandhi told Brown Girl Magazine that she was “both nervous and excited” about the release, which she described to be “like nothing you’ve heard before.”
She hinted. “There are three more songs that are all a mix of different sounds; an amalgamation of influences I had growing up.”
Through the EP, she hopes to convey her upbringing, background, and real-life experiences.
On collaborating with Sethi for “Love Like That,” she said it was a long time coming. The pair connected on social media a few years ago, and upon meeting in person in Los Angeles, quickly collaborated with producers to produce the single.
The composition includes influences from qawwali and mainstream pop. According to Gandhi, Sethi contributed the idea to include the classic ‘Ghar Naari Gawari’, while she added sound that reflected her background of listening to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and ghazals to the track.
“I’m a sponge and love taking what moves me wherever I go. The different musical styles add to my toolbox, and are the key to my talents. I’m open-minded and add to my own sound as I pick up from different experiences and influences; as long as it is natural and authentic.”
Speaking of her journey writing music, Gandhi shared she still struggles with songwriting. Stranded in Bombay and unable to go home to Canada during the beginning of the pandemic she shared the circumstances that helped force her to learn the skill of songwriting.
“The more I do, the more comfortable I get.”
Reflecting on how far she has come in her journey over the years, she said:
“The journey has been wild and dynamic; I’ve gone through phases and I keep evolving and trying new things. The more you know, the more you want to know, and the less you think you know!”
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Gandhi’s influences that include the likes of Lata Mangeshkar, Mohammad Rafi, Sonu Nigam, Sunidhi Chauhan, Christina Aguilera, the Fujis, Lauryn Hill and Beyonce, are diverse and varied much like her own work.
She has worked and toured with Sonu Nigam, A.R. Rahman, Pritam, Vishal-Shekhar and several other renowned artists in India. Of these, her most cherished memory is working with A.R. Rahman.
“He knows how to put you on the spot and make you do things you haven’t done before. He’ll think you can do it, and you’ll think ‘I didn’t think I could do that! But I’m going to do that more now, and I’m going to incorporate that into my sound’.”
Her next dream collaboration would be of a completely different genre; that clearly reflects her well-rounded musical personality.
“I grew up on dance hall music: Sean Paul, Beenie Man, Wayne Wonder,” Gandhi shared. “Now with Afro being so huge again, I think it would be really sick to do a collab with Burna Boy! If I did a Hindi or Punjabi verse that would be awesome.”
Not only does Gandhi have global taste in music, but she can also sing in multiple languages. Gandhi has crooned in languages like Tamil, Telugu, Punjabi, Kannada, Hindi and English.
“I love to record in all languages — but I do have a soft spot for Tamil. I sit with someone who explains the meaning before we record. Then I see people respond to it, and it’s an out-of-body experience,” she described. “It feels like having friends through music, because of how they connect with my songs. I’m not classically trained, so I focus on getting the sounds right, so the audience does not feel the language barrier.”
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The music industry is ever-evolving, and in 2024, being a singer-songwriter means wearing several more hats. One of these often includes having a significant social media presence.
On this, Gandhi expressed, “Social media is a great tool to use for musicians now; a great way to connect with musicians firsthand. It does get overwhelming though.”
“Attention spans are low and musicians have pressure to make shorter songs — durations go down to two or three minutes,” she elaborated. “The downside of making shorter songs for short-form content is that as an artist, it’s difficult to cut through the noise.”
According to Gandhi, the best way to support musicians is to stream music directly, rather than relying solely on social media tools like Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, or TikTok videos.
Gandhi is “proud to be a brown girl,” who hopes to make her audience proud of how she represents the culture and wants to use music to unify the world.
“Being a cross-cultural person myself — having different homes in Bombay and Brampton — I think it’s okay to embrace all things that make you, you. I hope people resonate with that.”
“Love Like That” marks the first of many anticipated releases from the South Asian songstress, and primes Jonita Gandhi to unveil her debut EP on Feb. 2.
