By 
After years of staying out of the spotlight, Jasmine Sandlas is back at the centre of mainstream attention thanks to the massive success of the Dhurandhar franchise. Songs like Shararat, Main Aur Tu and Jaiye Sajana have once again turned her into one of the most talked-about voices in Bollywood and Punjabi music.
But behind the renewed fame lies a story of struggle and resilience. Long before the stadium shows and chartbusters, Jasmine and her family survived on food stamps after moving to the US. “We landed in New York. I didn’t speak English. Whatever was the local school, my father got us admitted there. We used to live in a one-bedroom apartment which was a low-income home, and we were 6 people,” the singer told Ranveer Allahbadia on his podcast.
Her father started working at a gas station in America. Her mother had been a teacher in India, but here she worked factory shifts and picked cherries. They survived on food stamps. Life got better when they moved to California. Her father found work in the legal system again, this time as an interpreter.
Jasmine’s only outlet for music was when she used to sing shabads at the gurudwara. “Uss time koi music nahi tha meri life mein – the only time I could sing was shabads at the gurudwara,” she mentioned.
Her parents didn’t believe in her singing dreams. While her mother brushed it off as a hobby, her father believed music was not a viable career. “I begged for six months,” she said. “If I make it, good otherwise, I will quit.” She didn’t make it in that time but she didn’t quit either.
In 2014, Yaar Naa Miley from Salman Khan‘s Kick made Jasmine a household name. She and Yo Yo Honey Singh had co-written one of the year’s biggest Bollywood hits. Just as her career peaked, tragedy struck with the death of her father.
“Yaar Naa Miley was the biggest hit at the time, and I lost my dad. My whole family fell apart. We could never find an anchor again. My father was a silent type, a good righteous man. He was the anchor. When he left, hum sab bikhar gaye. We are still trying to gather the pieces. It’s been more than ten years. I miss him. I want to celebrate success with him,” the singer said.
