Deteriorating, disheartening and uninspiring: 90s singing sensation Alisha Chinai on current music trends

Singer Alisha Chinai was called the Madonna of India and rightly so because she was the flag bearer of Indi Pop singers at the time when Bollywood songs ruled the music stage.

“90s was the time when Bollywood songs were at the peak but with ‘Made In India’, an entirely new door opened for musicians and singers so in a way, yes I was the trailblazer for giving Indi-pop music the much deserving position,” Alisha Chinai told Opoyi in an interaction.

“It was the most enjoyable and inspiring phase of my life. Made in India was like an anthem and the euphoria attached to it was unmatchable. I became synonymous with its success globally,” she added.

‘Made In India’, a song that has notched up 86 million views on youtube so far, not only introduced model Milind Soman to the world but also made Alisha, the queen of Indian pop music. The singer says that the reason why the track is still fresh in people’s minds is because it brings out a kind of patriotism in all of us.

“There is India in it and that makes all of us proud. We feel happy looking at the song and we enjoy listening to it over and over again,” she said and added that she will allow re-recording of the song only if it will go through her.

“First of all ‘Made in India is classic and it can’t be remade. Will you remake Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’? But if someone plans to do that, it has to go through me as the song is very close to my heart,” said the singer.

Besides her independent pop music phase, Alisha’s career in Bollywood was also a hit with songs like Katte Nahi Kat te’ from ‘Mr India’, ‘Aaj Ki Raat’ from ‘Don 2’ and ‘Kajra Re’ from the 2005 YRF movie ‘Bunty Aur Babli’. Despite huge successes, Alisha took a break from her Bollywood career with no plans to come back again.

When asked if this is because of copyright law that she spoke before, she said, “Yes, and it’s very disheartening. You don’t have royalty of your own song and I think that’s not right considering we are the stars of that song. From musicians to makers, everyone takes the credit, including the studio, but we are nowhere. I don’t think I will come back with irregularity in the system,” she said.

Also, there are a lot of new record companies and new talent. Every day there is a new singer who is ready to do work for free. They are compromising and that’s why they are the worst paid,” she added.

But has she decided not to come back again ever?

“I don’t know about the future but right now I am focusing on my independent tracks. Also, I have collaborated with an international producer who has a fetish for Bollywood songs so we are making something for listeners in Russia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and some more places as these people are in love with Bollywood tracks, though they hardly understand that,” she said.

“Currently I am exploring all possibilities, creating content, and writing my songs and producing them too. Now there are YouTube and so many other platforms where you can put your own songs out and that’s wonderful,” she added.

We wish Alisha all the best and we also hope to hear her mellifluous voice again.