Alisha Chinai

Alisha Chinai is an Indian pop singer known for her Indi-pop albums as well as playback singing in Hindi cinema.[1] She began her singing career with the album Jadoo in 1985, and by the 1990s she had become known as the 'Queen of Indipop'.[2] Her best known songs were with producers Anu Malik and Biddu during the 1990s.

Alisha Chinai
Chinai in 2009
Background information
Genres
Occupation(s)Singer
Years active1985–present

Career

Chinai's initial albums include Jaadoo, Babydoll, Aah... Alisha!, Madonna, Kamasutra, Alisha - Madonna of India and Made in India.[1] Alisha was introduced to Hindi film music by the veteran music director and composer Bappi Lahiri. They had many disco hits together in many films in the 1980s including Adventures of Tarzan, Dance Dance, Commando, Guru, Love Love Love, etc. When she started her career with him, she was playback singing for many leading actresses, such as Karisma Kapoor, Smita Patil, Mandakini, Sridevi, Juhi Chawla, Madhuri Dixit, Divya Bharti. In 1985, Alisha sang two songs with Remo Fernandes, in Konkani, for the album Old Goan Gold. She also recorded a song for Pankuj Parashar's film Jalwa (1987), composed by Anand-Milind. One of her biggest hits during the 1980s was "Kaate Nahin Katthe" (Mr. India), which she recorded in 1987 with Kishore Kumar under the music direction of Laxmikant–Pyarelal. Another successful track, in 1989, was "Raat Bhar Jaam Se" from the film Tridev, which had music by Kalyanji-Anandji and Viju Shah.[3]

In the 1990s, Chinai took on working in different films, collaborating with other music directors, such as Anu Malik, Anand-Milind, Rajesh Roshan and Nadeem-Shravan. Throughout these years, she had several Bollywood hit songs, including "Dhak Dhak Dhak" with Aditya Pancholi (Maha-Sangram), "Jalta Hai Badan" (Balwaan), "Tere Ishq Mein Nachenge" (Raja Hindustani), "Chaa Raha Hain Pyaar Ka Nasha" (Chandra Mukhi), "Roundhe" (Pyar Tune Kya Kiya), "Sona Sona Roop Hai" (Bollywood/Hollywood), "Mouje Mein" (Karobaar), "De Diya" (Keemat), "Ruk Ruk Ruk" (Vijaypath) and the controversial "Sexy Sexy Sexy Mujhe Log Bole" (Khuddar).

Chinai recorded an album with Lesle Lewis under the title Bombay Girl, which included the hit song "De De" released in 1994. Simultaneously, she recorded many songs as a pop singer, with accompanying album releases. Chinai was noted for her 1995 hit single and album, titled Made in India, which was composed by Biddu and went on to become one of the highest-selling pop albums of its time, making Alisha became a household name. It contains well-known songs such as "Aaja Mere Dil Mein", "Ek Baar Do Baar", "Sun O Meri Dhadkan", "Tu Kahan", "Ooh La La", "Tu Jo Mila", "Dhokha Diya Hai Re Tune Mere Dil" and "Lover Girl". With its success, Chinai announced her departure from playback singing and wanted to concentrate only on private pop albums. However, her follow-up releases were less successful. This was also the period when she got into a major controversy with the man who recorded several hit songs with her, Anu Malik. During the release of Made in India, Chinai had accused Anu Malik of molesting her. While some claim it was a publicity stunt by the singer to promote her album, Anu Malik and Chinai did not work for several years, only to reunite in 2003 with Ishq Vishk.

Chinai in 2010

Chinai's comeback to film music was with the song "Oh My Darling" in the Yash Raj film Mujhse Dosti Karoge!. From 2000 to 2009, she recorded primarily with Himesh Reshammiya, Shankar Ehsaan Loy and Pritam. After her controversy with Anu Malik in the 1990s, she patched up with him to record for a number of films, starting with Ishq Vishk, Fida, No Entry, Love Story 2050, Maan Gaye Mughle Azam, Ugly Aur Pagli, Chehraa and Kambakht Ishq.[4]

In 2005, Chinai's career reached a new high when she sang "Kajra Re" (Bunty Aur Babli). The song was a hit and won her a Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer. She was also a judge on Indian idol 3 and is a judge on Zee TV's Star Ya Rockstar with Anu Malik.

Awards
  • Chinai received the Filmfare Best Female Playback Award for the song "Kajra Re", from Bunty Aur Babli (2005).[5]
  • Previously, she received the International Billboard Award in 1995, around the time Made in India came out,[6] and also won the Freddie Mercury Award for Artistic Excellence.

Personal life

Chinai is a Gujarati.[7] She was married to her manager Rajesh Jhaveri and is now separated.[8]

Partial discography
See also: List of songs recorded by Alisha Chinoy
  • 'Greatest Hits
  • Film Hits
  • Best of Alisha Live
  • Alisha : Singer Doll of India
  • Alisha Unleashed
  1. "Aah Alisha"
  2. "Babusha"
  3. "Baby doll"
  4. "Dekho dekho"
  5. "Dheere dheere"
  6. "Jadoo"
  7. "Kiss ko dil doon"
  8. "Pyaara awara"
  9. "Rootho na hum se"
  10. "Shor sharaaba"
  11. "Superman"
  12. "Tara"
  13. "Tarzan my Tarzan"
  14. "Vote for Alisha"
  • Alisha
  1. "Seulement vous (Only you)"
  2. "Ishq se ishq
  3. "Dilbar jaaniya"
  4. "Maashuka"
  5. "Woh pyaar mera"
  6. "Soniyaa"
  7. "Don't want your love"
  8. "Aai teri yaad"
  9. "Dhuaan dhuaan"
  10. "Can you dance"
  • Shutup N Kiss Me
  1. "Shutup n kiss me (Ravi Bal mix)"
  2. "Sohneya aaja (Smedrock dance refix)"
  3. "Tra la la- tere pyaar mein (3si Ibiza mix)"
  4. "Dil goes boom (Mumbai mix)"
  5. "Meri jaan mujhe kehke"
  6. "Silsila (Jazzed up mix)"
  7. "Ghazal"
  8. "Shutup n kiss me (Ravi Bal hiphop refix)"
  9. "Sohneya aaja (Sli Booty mix)"
  10. "Sooni meri kalai"
  11. "Be my lady"
  12. "Shutup n kiss me (Cheeky Monkee refix)"

Selected hit songs
Further information: List of songs recorded by Alisha Chinoy

Albums

Studio albums

The following are sales of Alisha Chinai's Indi-pop studio albums in India.

Year Album Certification(s) Sales[9][10]
1985 Jadoo Platinum[11] 200,000
1986 Aah... Alisha! Multi–Platinum[11] 400,000
1988 Babydoll Multi–Platinum[11] 400,000
1989 Madonna 3× Platinum[11] 600,000
1990 Kamasutra 2× Platinum[11] 400,000
1992 Alisha - Madonna of India[12] Multi–Platinum
1993 Bombay Girl 3× Platinum[13] 600,000
1995 Made in India Multi–Platinum[14] 5,000,000[15]
Total known sales 7,200,000

Soundtrack albums

The following are sales of Bollywood soundtrack albums featuring songs by Alisha Chinai.

Album Year Sales Ref
1991 Phool Aur Kaante 6,000,000 [16]
1992 Khiladi 2,500,000
1994 Main Khiladi Tu Anari 3,000,000
Khuddar 2,800,000
1997 Aflatoon 2,500,000
2002 Mujhse Dosti Karoge 1,200,000 [17]
2003 Ishq Vishk 1,200,000
2004 Murder 2,200,000
Fida 1,400,000
2005 Bunty Aur Babli 1,900,000
2006 Dhoom 2 2,000,000
Don: The Chase Begins Again 1,500,000
2007 Jhoom Barabar Jhoom 1,700,000
Namastey London 1,400,000
Total sales 30,800,000

References
  1. Kasbekar, Asha (2006). Pop culture India!: Media, Arts, and Lifestyle. ABC-CLIO. p. 34. ISBN 1-85109-636-1. Retrieved 27 January 2010.
  2. Asha Kasbekar Pop Culture India!: Media, Arts, and Lifestyle 2006 1851096361 page 34 "Alisha Chinai (1972– ) is the pioneer and undisputed Queen of Indipop—that's the verdict of the music industry. Her first major hit album was Jadoo (Magic). Further platinum albums included Aah... Alisha!, Babydoll, Madonna and Kamasutra, but it was her most successful and popular album Made in India, released in 1995, that established Indipop as a discrete genre and Chinai its prime proponent."
  3. "Interview | I think my time has come: Alisha Chinai". DNA. 8 September 2017. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  4. India Today International - Volume 2, Issues 27-34 - Page 56 2003 Indipop Rock 'n' Rule 1 QO r It has been in arrival mode ever since Alisha -L-/0 J Chinai's Jaadu hit platinum. Ten years on, her Made in India sparked the music video boom. India believed it had found a Madonna clone, while in Daler Mehndi's energetic warbling, they thought folk – or a reasonable simulacrum – had achieved record-busting status. But film music remains indomitable, accounting for 65-75 per cent of sales
  5. 51st Filmfare Awards Archived 3 January 2013 at Archive.today filmfareawards.indiatimes.com Retrieved 29 August 2007
  6. Alisha going global Archived 6 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine outlookindia.com Retrieved 29 August 2007
  7. "Priyanka Chopra is Alisha's fan". The Times of India. 16 October 2011.
  8. "The Sunday Times on the Web – Plus". Sundaytimes.lk. 8 December 1996. Retrieved 22 September 2011.
  9. Asiaweek, Volume 7. Asiaweek. 1981. p. 39. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
  10. "Nazia-Biddu Team - 'Disco Deewane': Hit in Hindu". Billboard. 93 (28): 70. 18 July 1981. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
  11. Jeffries, Stan (2003). Encyclopedia of World Pop Music, 1980-2001. Greenwood Press. p. 35. ISBN 9780313315473. While she was working on the show the label HMV offered her a record contract, and in 1985 she released Jadoo. The album, a series of songs that blended Indian traditional music with Western dance rhythm, was an immediate success and turned platinum. Chinai's next two albums, Aah! Alisha and Baby Doll, were both multi-platinum sellers, as Chinai began to be called "India's Madonna" in the press. Although she attempted to play down this image, her next album reinforced it: Madonna (1989) turned three times platinum as its up-tempo, bright and energetic dance numbers and memorable melodies won the nation's heart. Later in 1989 she released Kamasutra, an album that was very similar to Madonna and that earned the singer a double platinum disc.
  12. http://www.rajeshjhaveri.com/producer-songs/madonna-of-india/
  13. Jeffries, Stan (2003). Encyclopedia of World Pop Music, 1980-2001. Greenwood Press. p. 35. ISBN 9780313315473. The result was Bombay Girl, (1993), another huge success that went triple platinum.
  14. Jeffries, Stan (2003). Encyclopedia of World Pop Music, 1980-2001. Greenwood Press. p. 35. ISBN 9780313315473.
  15. Jeffries, Stan (2003). Encyclopedia of World Pop Music, 1980-2001. Greenwood Press. p. 35. ISBN 9780313315473. All of Chinai's previous success was eclipsed with the 1995 release of Made in India. A series of uptempo songs indebted to traditional Indian music but revealing a definite Western influence, the album reached #1 in the Indian charts and stayed there for over a year as it sold over 5 million copies.
  16. "Music Hits 1990-1999 (Figures in Units)". Box Office India. Archived from the original on 5 February 2010. Retrieved 5 February 2010.
  17. "Music Hits 2000-2009 (Figures in Units)". Box Office India. Archived from the original on 5 February 2010. Retrieved 5 February 2010.
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