Banita Sandhu on Moving to India and Relationship Scrutiny Post AP Dhillon's 'With You': ‘It's Just Noise'

Actor Banita Sandhu, celebrated for her roles in October and Sardar Udham, recently relocated to India, a move she describes as a testament to her dedication to Bollywood. “I think me just even shifting here shows my commitment and focus to this industry. My mindset hasn't changed since the beginning of my career as it always said that I just want to do good work and work my hardest. India feels like a second home to me. That's why even this move, it doesn't feel like I'm jumping into the deep end. It just feels like I’m coming home,” she shares.

The actor, who grew up in Wales, explains the timing of her move:

“This year, I've been wanting to come, but I had work commitments in the UK which I had to finish up. So as soon as that got done around October, I finally had the get-go. I could come and move here which was perfect timing for winters too, because I can’t handle a cold weather shock.”

- Banita Sandhu

Despite her international upbringing, Banita says she has never felt out of place in India. “India has just embraced me with open arms and there's been no discrimination at all in terms of where I'm from. I would say I've probably faced more discrimination in the West being a brown working actress there. I've definitely lost out on roles because of the way that I look, I've been told that,” she reveals.

Her brief role in the globally popular series Bridgerton also brought her a wave of admiration in India. Reflecting on the response, Banita says, “The people here are the best. I never expected to have that response but just to feel the warmth and love, it's an incredible feeling and I'm just so proud to be Indian and it made me so proud to represent our country.”

Banita also gained recognition for her appearance in AP Dhillon’s music video With You, which presented her in a refreshingly different light. “With this industry, it's just so quick-paced and transitory. I think people forget that it takes a long time to shoot a project. So, you can't really be in cinemas or on screen like every other week. But having said that, I think the music video was the first time I was presented in a different way. It was a bit more light-hearted and fun and flowy, whereas all of my other creative work in India has been more serious, where I'm not wearing makeup and it's been more emotionally intense. So, this was like a fun new avatar of me, and I'm so glad it was received so well because I was worried that people were going to be like, ‘wait, what?’”

The video also sparked scrutiny over her relationship with AP Dhillon, but Banita remains unfazed. “My focus is work and everything else is just noise,” she states firmly.