DISCOVERING HER INNER VOICE

Dressed in black trousers and a black crochet top, her straight hair cut in a trendy fringe, Alisha lives up to her nickname ‘Babydoll’. The petite and attractive singer has come a long way in her 13-year-old career, to become the leading pop singer of India.

Alisha first made an impact when she sensuously crooned Kaate nahin katti yeh din yeh raat in Mr. India in her unique voice. She made a bigger impact sometime later with the foot-tapping Ruk ruk ruk in Vijaypath. But it was Made In India that made her into a singing sensation overnight.

Back in India after a three-year gap (during which she had made London her abode), to release Om..., Alisha talks about life after Made In India. Excerpts:

Your album Made In India was released quite sometime back and was a mind-blowing success. But after that, we didn’t hear anything from you. Why were you in hibernation?
Made In India was released three years back. The album was a mega-success and if I had come out with another album immediately, it would have cut into the sales and killed Made In India. My idea was to cash in on the success of Made In India and milk it dry. I did shows all over the world after its success. My concerts in Singapore, Malaysia, Tashkent, Kazakhistan and London were a super-success thanks to Made In India. Also I needed some time to plan my next album.

You had cut pop albums earlier, but they weren’t a huge success. Did you imagine that Made In India would achieve such unprecedented success and break all records?
I never thought that it would be such a stupendous success, though I was dead sure that we had come up with a good product.

What do you think clicked about Made In India?
I think everything about it was good. The video, which was revolutionary in a way, was lavish and imaginatively shot by Ken Ghosh. The music was great, the lyrics were easy, and of course the singing was good. Everything together worked out just right.

Actually, my past albums too have done quite well. Babydoll was a hit inspite of the fact that it had no video at that time. Aah...Alisha, Jadoo, Madonna, Kamasutra, Madonna Of India, Bombay Girl all did quite well. But Made In India made history.

So, it was a strategy to cash in on the success of Made In India and then release a new album?
In a way, yes.

What is your new album about? When did you plan it?
Om - The Inner Voice was conceptualised a year back and recorded early this year in London. The album is about the Antaratma, the inner voice. It talks about a girl’s search for truth, which she ultimately finds within herself. The message conveyed is that God is within all of us.

The album is a mix of rhythm and soul. In rhythm, there are dance tracks like Om, there is an Indian folk rhythm Let’s dance and there’s a Middle Eastern rhythm Laila. The flipside is the soul side which has beautiful ballads like Tu jo mila. But what I am really thrilled about is the semi-classical number Babul mora, which comes in the end. For the first time I have worked with renowned musician Dr. L. Subramaniam on that song, in which he plays the violin. Though this bidaai song is traditional and was written by Wajid Ali Shah, people still remember it, after it was popularised by K.L. Saigal. A proof that a good song never dies.

Who are the others who have worked on Om...?
I have written all the lyrics and composed music for the title song Om, while Rajesh Jhaveri, my ex-hubby and now my best friend, has compsed music for other songs and directed the two videos. The music for Laila has been composed by the Lebanese music director Ragheb Alameh, and that for E-lahe has been composed by Mohabir/ Topize.

We have shot two videos, both on a lavish scale abroad. For Om we went to Thailand, and Laila, which has an interesting story woven around it, was shot in Sharjah and Dubai.

Biddu, who composed music for Made In India,
was unhappy that he was sidelined and didn’t get his due credit.
Was there a fallout between you two?
It’s always the singer who is remembered and identified with an album, while the composer has to take a backseat. It’s sad and unfair, but then that’s how things work.

There’s no fallout or any bitterness between us, atleast not from my side.

After Made In India, one would have expected you to again team up with Biddu and repeat the magic. But you didn’t repeat the success team?
You can’t repeat success with the same team, that’s what I feel. You can’t achieve success with the same sound. It is very difficult to match something which you have once done, because it leads to comparisons and if you are repetitive, then the listeners won’t go for it.

That is why I have drastically experimented in Om... And the suspense of how it will be received is killing me. I want this album to be a classic and long remembered, just like Made In India. It shouldn’t be a three-month album where the songs are heard, hummed and forgotten.

Looks like suddenly everyone’s getting spiritual
and are on a self-discovery trip.
There’s a change in the climate in the world. Everyone is feeling restless. The pace is getting stressful and the world is going mad. The little sanity we have, we should maintain by bringing in some peace in our lives. That’s the reason for the sudden spurt in spiritualism.

You have released Om... after your idol Madonna released an album influenced by Indian spiritualism, Ray Of Light. Is it mere coincidence?
Well, great minds think alike. (Smiles). My album coming after Madonna’s is pure coincidence. How can I come up with an album, something as magnanimous as Om... in a couple of months’ time, after Madonna’s album was released. Making an album takes atleast a year, and I have been working on this for the past one year, in fact more than that. The concept may be similar, but except for the title song, Om, which is on similar lines as her Frozen, namely discovering the inner self, the other songs are completely different. There is nothing in common. I would call it an amazing coincidence. And for once I didn’t have to look in her direction, this time Madonna is looking here.

You have been labelled ‘Madonna of India’. What do you feel about it?
I am not exactly proud about the label. No doubt Madonna is a great singer, but I too have my own identity. I guess I was tagged so after I came out with an album where I sang her hits. But that doesn’t mean I have to live on with that label.

Your singing career in films was going great guns. In fact your song from Keemat, De diya is a chart-topper. But one doesn’t find you singing for films any more. At a time when pop singers like Shweta Shetty and Sunita Rao are singing more and more film songs, you have cut down on films. Why?

I don’t want to sing for films because I don’t enjoy playback singing anymore. That song for Keemat was recorded more than three years back. I had even forgotten about it. I don’t like the idea of somebody else singing my song on screen. Why should somebody else lip-synch to my song on screen when I can do it myself? I’d rather record albums and sing my songs in the videos. I wouldn’t mind doing a soundtrack for a film though, something like what Celine Dion did for Titanic. But that too only if I get paid royalties on it. (Laughs).

Royalty brings to mind your legal case with Magnasound.
What’s happening on that front?
I am not supposed to talk about it.

Does your decision of not singing for films have anything to do with your tiff with Anu Malik?
Not at all. (After a pause). To a certain extent, maybe. But basically I don’t want to sing for films at all.

Have you ever thought of patching up with Anu and singing for him, since he is the number one music director today?
Is he? I am not impressed by any music director today and I am not keen on singing for films. Singing for albums is my forte.

Do you agree that there is a slump in the Indian pop market?
There is a slump, no doubt, because quality albums are not being produced. Just about anyone and everyone is becoming a singer and cutting pop albums. I hope my Om... will help in giving a boost to the music scene.

All this time you have been in London.
What kind of life were you leading there?
Actually, I have been shuttling between London and India. While in London, I was busy working on my album, and listening to all kinds of music from different parts of the world. Another good thing that happened to me was I signed a three-year contract with EMI. Their affiliate HMV will be marketing and distributing my albums in India.

You have done shows all around the world.
Any particular one which truly gave you a feel of popularity?
Yeah, the one in Kazakhistan. Around 25,000 people had gathered there to listen to my Hindi pop songs, which really amazed me. And they were all singing Made in India with me. That put me on a high and that’s when I was convinced that I had truly gone international. Made in India, I discovered, had become the anthem for Russians, just like Mera joota hai Japani.

You were a model once. Have you got any acting offers?
Like Madonna, would you like to become a singer-actress and do films?
I haven’t yet got any acting offers. But I am open to the idea of doing films, something like Evita. Madonna was just fabulous in that film, both as an actress and as a singer. Something on those lines would be an ideal role for me.