She carries a legacy in her heart and dreams in her voice. Behind every song and role is a daughter, an artist, and a woman who turned healing into art. Meet Sweetaj – beyond the stage, beyond the spotlight.
Sweetaj, coming from a legendary artistic family, did you feel pressure to live up to the legacy or see it as a blessing?
I consider my father’s legacy a blessing, and that is something I want to preserve
and carry in my heart forever.
I want people to never forget him and remember him through me and my work.
I wish his fans and people who admire and love him even today to always be happy
with and supportive of what I bring to the table through my music and movies,
that’s where I have to be choosy of what to do and what not to.
After the massive success of Care Ni Karda, how would you describe the
difference between working in Bollywood and the Punjabi music industry,
creatively and professionally?
Well, not many people know that ‘Care Ni Karda’ was originally supposed to be a
Punjabi single track…I randomly get a call one day and hear that it’s going to be a
part of a big Bollywood project, and we have to record it again with new Hindi lyrics
added. So prepared for the Hindi version in like 2 hours and recorded it.
And oh, the response that song got made me feel so overwhelmed…all people of all
ages were seen dancing and singing along to that song!
To answer your question, there is no difference in Bollywood and Punjabi industry
or any other entertainment industry because I feel music, talent, theatre, in short,
‘entertainment’ has only one language and that is the language of ‘passion’ towards
what we do!
How did reaching the top 3 in Femina Miss India Punjab affect your
confidence and career?
Being in Miss India has taught me to be myself and stand out!
It has been a huge confidence booster in my life. I learned that competition is not
just about winning, it’s more about giving your best without worrying about the
results. Miss India also gave me so many friends!
Your Instagram feels very real and grounded. Do you consciously decide
what parts of your life to share and what to keep private?
Being an artist/public figure, I like to stay very active on Instagram, but like every
other person, public figures also have a life outside all this ‘lights, camera, action
and glamour’ as well.
A family awaits when we come home from long days of shoots…if married, the
husband or the wife waits up if not married like in my case, my mother waits up! So
we as artists deserve to keep a part of our lives private to keep that softness in life
alive!
Your debut song Love You Oye touched many fans. What emotions do you
enjoy expressing most in your music?
I feel like music has the power to convey emotions beyond words, and most
importantly beyond languages as well.
Music has no word, emotion or language barrier! Play any language song to any
person even if they don’t know that language, still they will be able to tell what
emotion the song is carrying! And I think its absolutely beautiful!
Being a singer, I want to sing all kinds of emotions through my music, obviously
being conscious about the lyrics I sing!
You’ve studied Psychology in Toronto — has that academic journey ever
influenced your songwriting or acting in any way?
I was introduced to psychology in school, and I found it very interesting, though I
always knew I wanted to be an actor and singer. I still wanted a backup plan that I
would be interested in (I knew I wouldn’t need it, but still).
That’s when I decided to pursue psychology!
When it comes to acting, psychology or any Sweetaj experience will never influence
it because on a film set, Sweetaj doesn’t exist, it’s the character I play, it’s the
character’s mind, heart, and soul on set, not Sweetaj’s.
And my singing is also not influenced because what I studied is in my brain, and
when I sing, itss through my Heart, and I think both organs are far enough to not
influence each other…
You’re known for being incredibly disciplined — daily riyaaz and gym. What
keeps you motivated, especially when life gets hectic?
To be honest, I try really hard not to skip any of the two, riyaaz and gym everyday,
but I do skip my riyaaz sometimes but never the gym.
What keeps me motivated is my love and passion for what I do…I have wanted to
become an actor and singer for as long as I can remember and now that I’m
blessed to be able to live my dream, i want to give it my 100% to live and enjoy
every bit of it!
In one of your Instagram captions, you mentioned “healing through art.”
Do you feel music and acting have helped you personally heal?
Unfortunately, not many people get to do/live their dream, and I thank god every
second of my life that I am able to do so!
When I’m in front of the camera on set or I’m behind the microphone on stage, I
feel my best and I feel the happiest!
So my work, my art has without any doubt helped me heal like nothing ever could
or can (after my mom).
What was it like working on emotionally intense films like Moosa Jatt? How
do you prepare for roles that carry so much weight?
‘Moosa Jatt’ came as a blessing to me in many ways, first being the opportunity to
meet and work with the legend Sidhu Moosewala, second was that Rani (the
character) had many shades and emotions to portray in the film, and I was looking
forward to conveying them all confidently! Third, to be able to debut in a big project
is every struggling actor’s dream, and for me it came true!!
As an actor, I tend to say yes to those scripts that I feel would let me prove myself
the best as an actor!
The character has to have an edge to herself that I would want to portray.
As I hear a story being narrated to me, I start building that character in my head in
my own way before the director explains it to me…and when they do, it ends up
being the same thing that I had made up in my head!
That’s how much I connect to the story and to the character before stepping on set
and hearing action!
I cook up situations in my head and start thinking, ‘what would she (the character)
do in this situation? How would she handle it?’
And by the first day of shoot…I’m no longer Sweetaj!
In one of your Instagram captions, you mentioned “healing through art.”
Do you feel music and acting have helped you personally heal?
To all my young fans…I want to start by saying that “I love you all so much and
thank you so much for all the love and support you shower me with! I have one
advice for you all and that is to never stop running towards your dreams because
god has a plan for all of us, for some it happens quickly and for some he might take
time, but it will happen, so never stop following your deams.”
In one of your Instagram captions, you mentioned “healing through art.”
Do you feel music and acting have helped you personally heal?
I am a proud elder sister and Josh knows I’m always here rooting for him! We are
each other’s best friends and best enemies at the same time…haha!
And for both of us it would be the best day when we collaborate, we are just
waiting for the right time!
But yes, a sibling collab can be expected sometime!
If you could go back and give one piece of advice to your younger self, as
an artist and as a person, what would it be?
No advice, I would just want to say:
“Hey, I am proud of you for never giving up on your dreams!
Wherever I am today is only because of you…you were stubborn enough and
passionate enough to keep trying and not giving up! And that is why I have the life
I always wanted today! I love you!
Thank you
