Age?
Sweet sixteen.

What?! Did we hear that correctly or has the Nuclear Age singled out Ila to look 40-plus?
"I am 16, I will remain 16. When I die, they will still say that I was 16." Hmmm, some people just don't (or is it won't?) grow up. Take her new album, Khichdi, a tipsy assembly line of East-West fusion-confusion. Which, keeping up with the current trend, has been dedicated to 50 years of Indian Independence.

But haven't there been enough of those 50-year bandwagonwallahs around?
"There may be people who are opportunists, who know nothing about the tiranga. Not me. I am a person who is sensitive to society and value my country. On August 15, I always hang four flags from my balcony. The way I love my mother, I love my country..." In fact, Ila was so depressed by the mess happening in politics, that she decided to write and sing songs about it.

Well, here is another messiah to help us rap our way through the political jet stream of isms and chalta-hai. But what message is there in `Nigodi Kaisi Jawani Hai' or `Bicchua'?
"I try to make at least one track cause-oriented. `Vote for Ghaghra' comments on corruption in politics and the exploitation of women."

Maybe we had wax in our ears while listening to her shake-them-down songs. Some of which, incidentally, are full of tightly-barely clad models on a gyroscope, and semi-explicit groans and moans.
"I am into entertainment. There is nothing wrong in being sexy or sensuous. It is part of life, you don't have to wear the garb of purity..." And no one can use models without their consent.

So, she is banking on the oldest marketing strategy -- sex -- isn't she?
"No it is not sex, but the vibrancy that has worked." As also her distinct heavy-bass voice, which she says she has not worked on. "My voice has a lot of minus points. I am lucky that my fans have accepted it."

So, it's eight albums so far. And she loves all of them?
"I never serve my khichdi uncooked. All my albums have been good." But wasn't it `Choli Ke Peechay' that got Ila a front-row ticket? "I always had my fans. `Choli...' just made it easier for me to get in touch with a wider audience."

Which meant that films and TV could go for a snooze?
"My music career took such a shape that, undoubtedly, I am a celebrity now and I can fool around with music." Evidence is Khichdi. "The album is a real culture ki khichdi." And the title track hammers on that point when it says: `Thoda sa Michael Jackson, Thoda sa George Harrison, Thoda sa Zakir Hussain, Ban Jayega Badhiya Fusion...' But the most offbeat song has to be `Tum Kahan Gaye Thay'. The video shows a woman asking this question to her husband. But it ends with the pati kissing his male-heartthrob.

"The credit for this goes to my brothers who wanted the song to go beyond the mujra. I am not here to comment but just to say that this is also a part of society. "

But if that is not the case, then there is a cunningly devised backdoor for Ila. The video has been shot in Prague. Not with Indian models, but with locals.
"If we had been more bold, we could have done it here... shooting abroad was a safety measure." Now, that is a nice trick for the day people decide to take offense and ban the album -- the song is about firangs, not us Indians !

Secondly, the locales in Prague are scenic and never-seen-before. "Since I started shooting in Rajasthan, everyone the world over has started shooting there."

And what is this self-made singer-writer most likely to say?
"Love and peace."

Least likely to say?
"Don't ask personal questions!" And Ila will tell no lies?

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.