In January 2019, millions of Indians wanted to know who she was. Promos for the second season of Gandii Baat—an ALT Balaji web series featuring erotic stories from rural India—had just come out, and one of its female leads was already an internet sensation. There were more than three crore searches in just a few hours for Anveshi Jain. She was the most Googled person that month in India.
This long-awaited moment of fame, though, was also one of the lowest points in her life. Reflecting on it now, Jain sees those challenges as life’s way of making her stronger, bolder and wiser.
Recently, her single ‘Banjaare’ crossed one million views on YouTube in its first week. Becoming a musician, in fact, was her first dream. “I was born in a small village near Khajuraho,” she says. “I did not have much exposure to music because my parents were professors, and my father was strict. We had a cassette player, but we were never allowed to use it as he didn’t like music.”
Despite her father’s reservations, Jain began taking part in cultural activities at school. “My mom told him a child needs to be active in various fields,” she says. “I was allowed to take music and kathak classes, but if there was a clash with an exam, I wasn’t allowed to participate.”
When Jain was in class ten, her family bought a car with a stereo system. “I was exposed to the music of Lata [Mangeshkar] ji and Jagjit Singh ji, and I thought, if I ever have the freedom to choose my path, I want to become a singer,” she says.
Acting came into the picture with Titanic. “When I saw Kate Winslet, I thought, ‘How can someone be so beautiful?’” she says. “I thought if I could be anyone in my next life—I didn’t think it was possible in this one—I would want to be an actress. Back then, there were only two career options: engineer or doctor. So, I pursued electrical and electronics engineering.”
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
William Dalrymple goes further back
Indian readers have long known William Dalrymple as the chronicler nonpareil of India in the early years of the British raj. His latest book, The Golden Road, is a striking departure, since it takes him to a period from about the third century BC to the 12th-13th centuries CE.
The bleat from the street
What with all the apps delivering straight to one’s doorstep, the supermarkets, the food halls and even the occasional (super-expensive) pop-up thela (cart) offering the woke from field-to-fork option, the good old veggie-market/mandi has fallen off my regular beat.
Courage and conviction
Justice A.M. Ahmadi's biography by his granddaughter brings out behind-the-scenes tension in the Supreme Court as it dealt with the Babri Masjid demolition case
EPIC ENTERPRISE
Gowri Ramnarayan's translation of Ponniyin Selvan brings a fresh perspective to her grandfather's magnum opus
Upgrade your jeans
If you don’t live in the top four-five northern states of India, winter means little else than a pair of jeans. I live in Mumbai, where only mad people wear jeans throughout the year. High temperatures and extreme levels of humidity ensure we go to work in mulmul salwars, cotton pants, or, if you are lucky like me, wear shorts every day.
Garden by the sea
When Kozhikode beach became a fertile ground for ideas with Manorama Hortus
RECRUITERS SPEAK
Industry requirements and selection criteria of management graduates
MORAL COMPASS
The need to infuse ethics into India's MBA landscape
B-SCHOOLS SHOULD UNDERSTAND THAT INDIAN ECONOMY IS GOING TO WITNESS A TREMENDOUS GROWTH
INTERVIEW - Prof DEBASHIS CHATTERJEE, director, Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode
COURSE CORRECTION
India's best b-schools are navigating tumultuous times. Hurdles include lower salaries offered to their graduates and students misusing AI