Shortly after delivering a historic performance at Coachella Valley Music and Arts festival twice last month, Diljit Dosanjh was attacked by trolls for commenting on a girl waving the Indian flag during one of his performances. While trolls were shut down soon after as it became evident that Diljit was misquoted when he posted a clarification, the singer-actor says he doesn’t care about misguided comments anymore. Back in India after his Coachella gigs, Diljit spoke to us about controversies and their impact on him.

Talking about how he deals with negativity, Diljit says, “Every positive action also has a negative reaction. I have reached a stage where I have emerged from being affected by trolls and negativity. I am way beyond caring about them. I have evolved to a level where I see everything from a detached and higher perspective.”

Diljit says that he has come far in his career. “After overcoming a stage where I was told that my debut film didn’t work because I am a turbaned actor, I have come a long way. I remember I had just come out of a performance in Jalandhar when I got a call from my producer that my film tanked because probably the youth couldn’t connect with a turbaned hero.”

He adds, “I had reconciled to the fact that fair enough, it could be a possibility since that was a new thing for audiences. It was only because before the release of this debut film, I had already shot my second film, which fortunately did very well, that I stayed in the industry as an actor. Earlier, I used to get confused trying to prioritize between being an actor and singer. But now I am clear that I am primarily a musician and I have stopped judging myself on what I am good at doing between the two vocations.”