Sonam Bajwa was bullied for her skin colour: ‘As a Punjabi, I was not gori-chitti enough’

Sonam Bajwa has said that she was bullied as a child for her skin colour. She was asked whether she ever felt sidelined in the Punjabi film industry, when she revealed that she was sidelined by her relatives in her childhood. (Also read: Diljit Dosanjh pens note after court issues stay order on Jodi release)

Sonam is currently promoting her upcoming film Godday Godday Chaa. Directed by (Harjeeta) Vijay Kumar Arora, the film also stars Tania, Gurjazz and Gitaz Bindrakhia.

Sonam told Siddharth Kannan in an interview, “When I was growing up as a kid, I was bullied for my skin color because as a Punjabi, I was not gori chitti (fair) enough. A few of my relatives never even invited me to their house ever. I have never seen their houses while growing up. But when I did well in my career, they called me to their house all the time; but unfortunately, I lost connection and respect. So this is life everyone respects successful people in industry or society.”

She added that the best reaction is to avoid becoming the similar kind of people. “So, yes. People have sidelined me, and that too at an age, where you don’t understand why they were doing this. In the industry, when I was shunned and big and successful celebs were given importance. It did not affect me much, to be honest, as I had seen much worse. I have also experienced that the makers would remove me from a film and not even let me know. So I have been through such times, but it doesn’t affect me much.”

Sonam worked with Bigg Boss 13 contestant Shehnaaz Gill in the latter’s movie debut Honsla Rakh alongside Diljit Dosanjh. Asked if she ever felt undercurrents of competition while working with Shehnaaz, Sonam denied any such thing and added that they did not have many scenes together in the film. She also said that she had a lot of fun, adding that working with a talented co-actor only encourages her to perform well.

Earlier this month, Sonam had shared the first trailer Godday Godday Chaa. Sonam and Tania reunite in the film after Guddiyan Patole. The upcoming film is slated for a theatrical release on May 26 and is written by Jagdeep Sidhu. Zee Studios and V.H Entertainment joined hands for the film.