Eight years after his debut with three tracks in Jai Ho!, Amaal Mallik is set to release the single, ‘Chalo Theek Hai’, composed, sung and even enacted in the music video by him.
Amaal has scored over 70 film and non-film songs and is set to do songs for Dharma Productions, a solo film for another banner, and more singles. His discography includes all songs in M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story, and Saina and all the originals in Airlift and Noor. His compositions have adorned films like Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety, Badrinath Ki Dulhania, Kapoor & Sons, Azhar, Roy and others.
Excerpts from an interview:
Your new video, ‘Chalo Theek Hai’ even shows your acting skills. As a composer, singer, lyricist, music producer et al, will we see you trying that out too?
(Laughs) No, no! I act only in the occasional single—this one is my home production, produced by dad (composer Daboo Malik). For me, music is my life.
The humming in it is your trademark of sorts, found in so many of your songs.
I like to do such things in place of instrumental interludes. In many cases, they sound more attractive.
You are doing many non-film singles like these. What attracts you to them?
I am working independently here—I am also signed with Sony Music. There is total freedom and no time constraint, as I can make any song I like and then bring in a story around it. For ‘Chalo Theek Hai’, my friend of many years, Krish Trivedi, has written the story. I have come up with two lines for my next single, and Krish has already told me that he will write a story around it.
There is a distinct ‘90s kind of ‘filminess’ to most of your non-film songs. In the 1990s, Indipop was very different from film songs. Today’s film songs often resemble Indipop.
You are right. Filminess is there in my music! I think the pop sound then came in like a rebel. Today, both forms are co-existing, and a certain percentage of those pop-like songs do very well. I personally don’t like to define things so sharply, but I would like the older generation to connect to my songs as a hark back to what they loved, which had higher lyrical and musical value.
Pop music is largely sound-based, but I do prefer importance to lyrics too. My treatment here is reminiscent of the Synth Pop one that prevailed in the 1980s. That sound, whether like the late Bappi (Lahiri)-da’s or disco et al is coming back!
My main assistants are two teenagers, who are quite compromised in Hindi. Whether they understand songs like my ‘Roke Na Ruke Naina’ from Barinath Ki Dulhania is something I like to study! I have my brother Armaan Malik and my dad right at home, and can check both barometers at home only! So I would like my music to connect with a broader spectrum of listeners.
You talked about freedom in making singles. What happens in films?
In films, it can be a totally different ballgame! I can be asked for a “hit” song, when all I know is how to make is a good song! Besides, it is rare filmmakers like Amole Gupte who have the patience to sit with me for the songs of Saina. I also did its background score. For ‘Kaun Tujhe’ in M.S. Dhoni…, Manoj Muntashir wrote the mukhda on my tune, and I made the tune to his antara. But it was Neeraj Pandey who patiently worked with us on the music—for two months.
In some cases, however, I don’t even know who is directing the film! Or a song is needed the next day after a phone call! I have done those kinds of things too. There are also cases where I have told a director that I can make a better tune than what he has liked on lyrics that have been passed, but he was adamant!
You took a break for a while like Pritam. Why was it necessary as, unlike him, you had worked only for four years?
It was in 2018, having done some 70 songs that I felt that I no longer wanted to get trapped in work I was not proud of. There were all the factors I have mentioned. Internally, I was unhappy. I had followed this mad pace for four years, and realized that people wanted my name to their song, but not necessarily good music. All this began to affect my health as well. After two or three years, I came back with some singles, and got the same love!
You have done five re-creations as well. Why do them at all if you want to be proud of your work?
I have done only five of the many offered! And that is when I knew that I would be allowed to add a little bit of my own, like modifying the antara, and the filmmakers knew I would accept doing them on my terms. Of these, ‘Kya yehi pyar hai’ from Rocky was to originally go into Sanju, and Raju-sir (Rajkumar Hirani) liked what I had done. But after we had cracked the song, the love story space in the film got reduced, and the song rights went back to the owners. It was then used in the recent film, Hurdang.
Making tunes is a God-gifted art and cannot be taught. How much calculation is added later?
I don’t calculate! I have been trained at Trinity College but I have never forced myself to sit and make a tune on the piano. A tune may come while sitting, or driving, for example. What can be taught is things like how to play instruments or film scoring. But a song that will connect is like catching the right fish among billions swimming in the sea! Yes, the lyrics are calculated. And then I can change a part of a tune to fit the right words. Director Sandeep Vanga loved ‘Yeh Aaina’ for Kabir Singh so much that he refused to change a note, but Irshad Kamil-sir’s words were so good that it took me a few days to modify a part of my tune for it!
How do you choose your male songs as brother Armaan’s or someone else’s?
Armaan is a global superstar! But he understands if I don’t take him. On the other hand, the correct pronunciation is a problem with most young singers, but Armaan is clear with his Hindi like the older generation was. Today, most young singers go nasal, gimmicky or try to sound like Arijit Singh or Atif Aslam. But Armaan is original. He is 26 and has remarkable maturity for his age, though his voice is still opening up.
I have a general habit of sending my composition to a singer around 10 days in advance, asking him to start living the song. There are so many issues though. Some singers have the voice and tenor right, but do not understand my composition. Then it is my job to work on them—it may have taken me a long time to fashion the song, so I cannot expect them to deliver in a couple of hours. Or today, music companies, as is the fashion in the West, have a certain group of singers with them and they ask me to compose for them. Then I have to jam with those artistes. Also, every singer has his forte and range, like Arijit Singh can sing very high. So the song decides the singer.
Beginning from A.R. Rahman’s times, various voices are tried out for a song. Many overdub a song already recorded. Do you too follow this practice?
No, I must have done that just two or three times. I make it a point to call the singer up and tell him or her that we will work together some other time if I must change. I don’t jump and overdub without their knowledge.
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