Anu Malik has been the face of Sony's Indian Idol ever since its inception. He has been the one judge who has been part of the show in all its previous four seasons. However, there has been a question mark raised on whether he will continue to be part of Idol in Season 5 or not.

The recent reports coming out state that, Anu Malik is waging a battle with the channel after he got to know that Sunidhi Chauhan who has been brought in to the judge the show this year, is in fact getting a bigger pay per episode when compared to him.

According to our source, "The channel officials have been constantly in touch with him. Even today, the channel had talks with Anu Malik at his residence. But it looks as though the channel could not convince Anu to stay on".

The buzz is that Mika Singh and Bappi Lahiri have been approached by the channel as a replacement option for Anu.

According to our source, "Anu is leaving for London tonight, and he will surely be giving the channel a 'Yes' of a 'No' as answer before he leaves. In that case, either Bappi Lahiri or Mika will be taken in as the new judge for the gala rounds. The shoot for the first Gala is expected to start from May 4th".

When contacted, Anu Malik told TellyBuzz, "See it is not the money issue that has brought about this change in me. There is something more to it. I have certain creative differences with the channel which has been looming large from the Season 2. I have given my time for the past four years to the show. I have also spoilt my personal relations with few judges who have been part of the show earlier. Even today, I have no problems with the new judges coming in; we share a great rapport. But what upsets me is the difference in views that I have with the channel. If things do not get sorted out, I will not be part of the show from the Gala round".

We also called Danish Khan, Marketing Head, Sony TV who said, "We are constantly in touch with Anu Malik, and believe that things will be sorted out". Talking about the replacement option, Danish told us, "We are not even considering the replacement option as of now".

However, Bappi Lahiri told TellyBuzz, "Yes, it is true that I have been approached to judge Indian Idol. However, things are not confirmed as of now".

We tried calling Mika, but we could not get thro' to him.

Let us now wait for Anu Malik's final decision..

Reporter: Ashmia Mishra, Ranjini Nair
Author: Ranjini Nair