It is exactly 35 years since the Indian ‘Queen of Indiepop’ walked into the music scene. On her birthday, she shared quite a vintage memory of her epic song ‘Made in India’. She is regarded as the vessel of introducing a globally unique genre to the Indian audience. She offered a couple of earworms and made her fans addicted to the new genre. She has been ruling the industry for more than three decades with the weapon of her unmatched honeyed vocals. She made outstanding performances in her music videos setting high expectations from indie-pop lovers. People still play her distinctive albums Jadoo and Babydoll on their favorite party playlists. Though, nobody can really get the one song off the hook that changed the setting of the 90s musical era. ‘Made in India’ is an inextricable memory of the 90s kids who spent most of their time listening to its dreamy pop tracks.
It was the biggest album under her hood with unforgettable songs like “Lover Girl” and “Dil”. The title track was the cherry on the top with her celestial vocals and the chronicles of an enchanting princess. The music video got the cogent attention of every Indian as soon as they watched the jaw-dropping entry of Milind Soman on the screen. She revisited the memory of making the memorable single while celebrating her birthday. The time was 1994 when she was offered this magnetic album by someone at Magnasound. No need to say that she was dying in excitement. She was told to visit the recording studio in the heart of London. She wrote her songs and hummed the sensuous melodies in the back of her mind while it was hard for her to normalize the thrill to work with the famous Biddu, who had hits with Nazia Hassan, Tina Charles, and others.
The first thing that crossed her mind was either “Made In India” would “get crushed into oblivion”, or It would turn into “a phenomenal hit.” The sound of iconic Bhangra grooves and her head-turner twangs made it so estranged from mainstream music. When it comes to the music video, any speech will fall short. It was the brainchild of Ken Ghosh and Alisha had to whisper in his ears that she wanted to be next to one and only Milind Soman on the music video. She suggested having scenes with the snakes, the astrologer, and the elephant, anything in the world that flexes her Indian blood with a royal visual. The revolutionary music video is the epitome of the elegance of Indians. When you look at the concept and visual artistry of the team, you realize that everyone who worked on this project was ahead of their time.
Alisha Chinai had the guts to introduce something new to the Indian audiences. She conceptualized the video of “Lover Girl” where she represented herself as free with boxing gloves and passable hip hop bass. She finds it very odd to see that there are no talented musicians left in the industry to keep it evolving. She thinks that the Indian music scene needs fresh sense and intriguing ideas to stand out again.
Website link: http://alishachinai.com/