Alisha Chinai Recalls Being Underpaid Despite Kajra Re's Success: Don't They Have Value For Singer? - EXCL

Alisha

Chinai made pop music a thing in India. As a playback singer, she gave countless chartbusters, including Kajra Re from Bunty Aur Babli. In an exclusive interview with Zoom, she opened up about being unpaid for the song. On Spotlight Sessions with Zoom, the veteran singer also spoke about the music mafia.

Alisha Chinai on being underpaid for Kajra Re

Talking to Zoom, Alisha said, “They still underpaid me for Kajra Re after my success.” The singer called out YRF’s unfair payment, and from there, she never looked back. Chinai delved deeper and opened up about Kajre Re ‘making a lot of hue and cry’. She further said, “I was hurt. I felt like, don’t they have any value for a singer? I was big then; I had Made In India. I was just sitting at home. I didn’t really want to do playback singing and because Ehsaan (of Shankar, Ehsaan, Loy trio) called me, I said, ‘Of course, I would love to do the song’.”ALSO READ: Songstress Alisha Chinai Reflects On Musical Journey, Says 'No One Here Understands Pop' | Exclusive

Parting ways with YRF

Alisha further hinted that her salary for the song was only Rs 15,000. When asked, she added, “Knowing full well that it was Yashraj, I was like, okay. When the check came, I was like, Hello?” She further shared, “I didn’t accept the cheque, they kept sending it back. That was it. I was a bit young at the time, and to be honest, not politically correct, I probably just said what I felt and just blurted it out. It didn’t go down very well.”WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW

Further in the interview, Alisha reflected on her battles with the ‘music mafia’ and her stand against sexual harassment. She further spoke about singers and their long-overdue fights for royalties.