Sonam Bajwa reveals she was scared to film kissing scenes, didn’t want to disappoint Punjabi audiences

Since her debut in Punjabi cinema with Best Of Luck in 2013, Sonam Bajwa has gone on to become one of the most popular stars in the industry. The actor will complete a decade in the industry this July. In an interview, she spoke about how she had turned down roles from Bollywood in the past as she was hesitant how the Punjabi audience would react. Sonam shared that she didn’t accept a film that had a kissing scene in it because she didn’t want to let people down, including her family. (Also read: Sonam Bajwa was bullied for her skin colour: ‘As a Punjabi, I was not gori-chitti enough’)

Sonam’s previous roles in Bollywood

Previously, she had auditioned for the role of Mohini in Farah Khan’s Happy New Year in 2014; the role eventually went to Deepika Padukone. She has also acted in the Hindi films Bala (2019) and Street Dancer 3D (2020) in smaller roles. Sonam’s base is in Mumbai and she lives in the city when she is not shooting for her Punjabi films. She added that she was more open to seeing what Bollywood has to offer now, but she was much more careful in the past.

Why Sonam said no to a kissing scene?

In an interview with Film Companion, Sonam shared, “In Bollywood, I said no to a couple of things because I said, is Punjab going to be okay with it? Because we have that mentality that families should be okay, families should be watching. I was very scared to do a kissing scene in a film back then, because I thought how are people going to respond to it? How are these people who have made me who I am today, are they going to relate to it? Are they going to understand this is for the script? Is my family going to understand that this is for a film?”

Sonam’s next film

Sonam’s recent Punjabi film is Godday Godday Chaa with Tania, Gitaj Bindrakhia and Gurjazz. It was released in theatres on May 26, 2023. In June, she will be seen opposite Gippy Grewal in comedy sequel Carry On Jatta 3. The film has been shot in the UK and also stars Gurpreet Ghuggi, Binnu Dhillon, Nasir Chinyoti and Jaswinder Bhalla.