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| Edited By: Deepali Singh |Source: DNA |Updated: Sep 08, 2017, 06:15 AM IST
She was the original baby doll, way before Sunny Leone burst onto the screen with her seductive moves. While Alisha Chinai is self-admittedly not the greatest singer, she does have a voice texture and style which remains unparalled in B-Town till today. A couple of years ago, the singer took a sabbatical from playback singing, to give her full attention to her father who was suffering from cancer. She spends a lot of time at her place in Alibaug. “I’m up in my ivory tower there, meeting nobody but my three dogs and staff. I have made friends with myself, and I’m in a happy place,” she tells us. She is now on social platforms such as Twitter and Facebook, but that’s more to know what’s going on than to connect with her fans. “It doesn’t come naturally to me,” she admits, “But I realise that one can’t be so insular. I want to keep the vibe going,” says the singer. Here, she talks about her plans of putting out her own songs, her aversion to playback and why Made In India still remains an anthem...
It’s on and off. It’s just curiosity to know what exactly is going on in the world. I just want to touch base. There was a whole phase where I didn’t want to know. I had gone into my little cocoon. Now, I’m in a social mood. I’m in a different space now, so I want to check out what’s going on, where the music is going, where the people are going. It’s not only about music when you’re on these social platforms. There are so many other things to learn about art or food.
I joined Twitter some time ago. I followed a couple of international news sites, The Real Donald Trump, etc and of course, all the biggest pop stars of the world or people in the music business. Quite honestly, I only follow a handful of people from here. And Facebook is ridiculous, everyone wants to be my friend and I don’t even know most of these people! So, I now have two accounts, one for my personal friends and another for fans and public. Don’t be surprised if I close shop and disappear again!
That’s because I don’t over sing. I don’t believe in quantity. Plus, I don’t have a voice that can fit into every mould. So in that sense, I don’t really have a ‘playback’ voice. Of course, when it was Kajrare, it worked like magic. Aishwarya (Rai Bachchan) looked like she was actually singing that song. It was a marriage made in heaven. Or when you see Priyanka (Chopra) sing Tinka Tinka. The song is a classic!
Honestly, I just shut myself off. My dad was suffering from cancer. That happened in 2011 and the whole of 2012-13, it was all hospitals and chemotherapy, multitasking and managing everything. I used to shuttle back and forth from Alibaug. Two-three years went by and I just switched off. I became a bit introspective, asking myself if all this really mattered. At the end of the day, what matters is who you want to be with. My dad is very special to me and I wanted to be there for him. I can always get my career back or work back at it but this time with him is not going to come back. I thought he was almost gone then. He’s survived for six years after that, but he’s still fragile. That’s always on my mind and so, I can’t totally concentrate on my work. But I also keep my finger on the pulse because everyone is like, you can’t completely neglect your work. Even I feel the whole scene has changed now with so many singers.
I don’t know. There are a lot of new record companies and new talent. Too many singers are desperately putting themselves out for free. They are compromising everything so much that they’re short-changing themselves. Frankly, even big movies are not doing well, the scripts are bad. Movies run on music, and yet, the singers are the worst paid. There is no respect left because these people are short-changing themselves.
Actresses singing is fine, at least it’s real and makes them a little more credible. Alia is gorgeous and she may not be the greatest singer, but it’s real.
What I’m doing now is exploring all possibilities and trying to get my finger on the pulse, as you say. I’m warming up. Now there are YouTube and so many other platforms where you can put your own songs out. So, that’s the best way to go. I’m still trying to figure out how to re-invent myself. At the moment, I’m exploring and also creating content, writing my own songs and producing them and then, hopefully by the end of this year, I should be able to put out some singles.
Yes, definitely they have. I listen to VH1 all the time. All these fabulous international singers and every voice is so special. They write their own music, have their own style, which makes them so distinctive. They are real artistes. Adele, of course, writes these painful ballads which make you sob. I love Attention by Charlie Puth, it’s my current hot favourite. And, of course, I love Despacito! That’s like the current anthem.
So, I’m not really inspired to playback for actresses at all. It just doesn’t turn me on. I could do a one-off if it’s a very, very special thing. I want to do my own songs and explore a whole new audience. I only think and write in English. So, I’m trying to warm up and figure it out. I will start small and see where it goes.
We need to have that kind of quantity and quality where it takes over everything else. There has to be a complete shift from Bollywood, or at least keep a parallel interest in it. The shift will happen but it will take time. Also, the show culture here is not as it is abroad. We don’t have the infrastructure or the kind of money that funds all that.
I’m in touch with the guys I worked with in the business. I connect with them on Facebook and here and there. But if you mean the singers, then no, I’m not in touch with them.
It’s not a song, it’s an anthem! There are songs and there are songs and there is Made In India. I’m being very pompous but that’s the truth (laughs).
I know, gorgeous, haan? (Smiles) Ya, I bump into him at Alibaug at the Bohemian Cafe. He keeps pulling my leg to lose weight and run in the marathon, and I’m like, shut up, I’m happy eating! (Laughs)
Yes, in fact, I was planning to put up a remix this Independence Day but I didn’t like the mix. I’m going to try and do it with an international producer now. The minute I get the correct remix, which is as good as the original or even better, then it’s great. It will be for a whole new generation. Let’s see when that happens. Before that, I want to put out some of my own English singles. I’m just going to go with the flow. I’m doing music to please myself now. It’s very self-indulgent. I’m hoping it works some magic and we get another big hit. I think my time has come. Every 10 years, I have a monster hit. I hope I’m third time lucky.
