Her Tamil hit Arabic Kuthu went viral last year, and Jonita Gandhi believes the song has broken the language barrier. The singer tells us about what the song has done for her and how the pandemic has helped indie music. Excerpts:

Arabic Kuthu is my highest streamed song. I think it must also be the most-viewed song of mine on YouTube. It has helped put a face to my voice even with those who already knew me as a singer. It’s a hit in all my shows. Another big thing is that it transcended the language barrier. People in the north do know about the song. So, I think it did make a big difference, and I’m grateful to Anirudh (Ravichander, music composer and co-singer) for trusting me with this one.

We’ve realised that we can do things remotely and still have a solid song. These days, when I’m travelling for shows, I take my portable recording setup along. When I sang for Brahmãstra: Part One – Shiva, I was in the middle of the A R Rahman tour in the USA; I recorded that from my hotel room. Independent music is also growing now. A lot of films were stalled during the pandemic. So, that was also an opening for indie music to shine. There’s more love and appreciation coming now towards artistes for their indie music, not just film music.