Jonita Gandhi: Had variety of musical influences while growing up

Mumbai, June 24

Singer Jonita Gandhi, who has belted out hits like “Sau tarah ke” and “Lagdi hai thaai”, says she has tried to copy and follow singers throughout her life from across the world.

“The music that made me is definitely music that was played to me by my dad growing up. I think he’s my biggest influence in music because he’s the one who recognised I had talent and encouraged me to work on it,” Jonita said.

“But growing up, I definitely had a wide variety of musical influences. I’ve listened to stuff and try to copy and follow singers throughout my life from across the world and I’m grateful to have listened to such a wide variety because that’s what influenced my desire to become versatile,” she added.

The singer has joined over 30 artists for #MusicThatMakesMe initiative, through which they pay homage to the music that played an instrumental role in shaping their careers.

“What I’m performing in the (video for the initiative) is actually a reflection of that. A medley — two songs I’ve originally sung — one is called ‘Haaye oye’ with Qaran (it’s a Punjabi pop song we did together), the other being a Tamil pop song I did with Leon James called ‘Kanne kanne’, ending with ‘Enna sona which is AR Rahman sir’s song,” she added.

The line-up also includes: Pritam, Shaan, Kailash Kher, Shilpa Rao, Papon, Armaan Malik, Nikita Gandhi, Akasa, Aastha Gill amongst others.