Lucknow, March 31: Once, she was touted as the Madonna of India. That phase has passed and is a forgotten one, insists Alisha Chinai. She’d rather grab playback offers and play judge on Sony’s Indian Idol 3. “I hate sermonising,” says Chinai, so none of that will come from her on the reality show. “ I hope it’s a woman who wins this time,” she adds.

Chinai’s success with the chartbuster from the film Bunty Aur Babli, Kajra re was an unexpected one for her but it managed to “re-establish me.” “It happened when I was thinking of taking time off. God certainly had other plans for me.” Life has moved on since. She is “single again and blissfully happy”.

Old wounds too seem to have healed. Today, she has no issues in sharing the platform with Annu Malik, also a judge at Indian Idol 3 along with Udit Narayan. (The channel has now announced the surprise inclusion of Javed Akhtar as the fourth judge.) A few years ago Chinai had accused Malik of sexual harassment. “He is extra nice to me and is doing everything he can to make me feel comfortable. We are professionals and have moved on in life,” she says.

Chinai is now waiting for the release of her next solo album, titled AC (her initials), and music video by the end of this month. But she refuses to divulge more and signs off with a promise for the unusual. “ Being unconventional is me.”