Singer Jonita Gandhi recently opened up about a difficult chapter from her past. In a candid interview, she revealed she wasn't always as confident as she appears today and spoke about the racism and bullying she faced while growing up in Canada.
During an interaction with Hautterfly, Jonita said, "I used to get a lot of racist comments about my facial hair while growing up. They used to call me Godzilla, and even the Punjabi boys in my class would make fun of me.
The singer was born in Delhi and raised in Canada. She said during the interview that even those from her own community made her feel like an outsider.
She admitted that the insecurities developed in childhood deeply impacted various parts of her life. "Growing up I was convinced that I was never going to have sex because of the same issues. I couldn't accept my own body; how can someone else accept it? I still have some of those issues; I still avoid swimming sometimes, but music made it better. I feel like I am the ugly duckling who became the swan."
After building a name for herself in Canada, Jonita moved to India to pursue her musical career, only to encounter a fresh set of challenges. "By the time I came to India, I had the glow-up and I had the transformation, and suddenly I was the 'cute' girl. People used to think initially that just because I am a 'firang', I am somehow easy."
However, she added that she eventually found people who respected her talent and helped her feel empowered. "I ended up meeting a lot of people who made me feel credible and gave me the feeling that no one could mess with me," she said.
Jonita first rose to fame through her viral YouTube covers of popular Bollywood songs. Her transition to playback singing began with Shah Rukh Khan's Chennai Express in 2013, and since then, she has delivered chartbusters like The Breakup Song (Ae Dil Hai Mushkil), Gilehriyaan (Dangal) and What Jhuka (Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani) among many more.
