All's well between Anu and Alisha

Subhash K Jha

After a legal battle, singer Alisha Chinai and music composer Anu Malik have decided to bury the hatchet, thanks to Tips Cassettes' top brass Kumar Taurani.

Anu and Alisha got together in the early 1990s to whip up a storm on the charts with tracks like Sexy sexy sexy (Khuddar) and Ruk ruk ruk (Vijayapath).

The two fell out acrimoniously when Alisha accused the composer of making indecent advances and slapped legal charges against him. But in a sudden and unexpected move, Taurani brought the two together at the Tips office on April 8.

Says Alisha, "Taurani said that both of us are too talented to not work together. I decided it is unprofessional to let my personal opinion come in the way of my professionalism. I told Anu that we have to set aside our personal differences and move on. That's it. Nobody is right and nobody's wrong any longer. Too much time has passed to hold grudges."

The renewed collaborative spirit will be celebrated with a song recording for music video director Ken Ghosh's first directorial venture Ishq Wishq Pyar Vyar.

Says Anu, "I was recording for Ken's film at Sahara Studios when Kumar Taurani told me that Alisha is willing to settle differences. There is no point in raking up the past. I'm too busy to hold grudges. I've got a great lineup of films including Raj Kanwar's Ab Ke Baras and J P Dutta's LoC. I've just signed on for Aryan, starring Karisma Kapoor and Sohail Khan, which will be produced by Pehlaj Nihalani's son and directed by Abhishek (Gattu) Kapoor.

"And Anant Mahadevan has signed me for a film that Farida Jalal will produce. Then I'm doing Ekta Kapoor's Kya Pyar Karoge Mujhse.

"There's quite a lot of scope for Alisha to sing for me in future. Now that Taurani has brought us together, he wants us to work in many songs."

Anu Malik has modelled several female voices, including Sunita Rao and Sunidhi Chauhan, in Alisha's style since their fallout. The patch-up with the singer marks a new beginning for the composer.

Alisha intends to drop all legal charges against the composer.