Amaal Malik reveals why Sonu Nigam singing ‘Mere Dolna 3.0’ was not easy; says ‘they were almost ready to remove me’

Sonu Nigam lent his voice to the classical song ‘Mere Dolna 3.0’ from ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3’. Recently, the song’s composer Amaal Malik shared that getting Sonu Nigam on board was not easy. He shared his displeasure that even a singer like Sonu Nigam had to go through many doubts, and some people were almost convinced to remove Amaal himself for selecting the 'Bijuriya' artist.

Industry pressure and too many opinions

During a conversation with Pinkvilla, Amaal Malik said, “I am thinking very hard that they didn't want someone as amazing as Sonu Nigam to sing ‘Mere Dolna 3.0’.” He shared how music decisions are not simple in Bollywood. He said many people control music choices. “ANR, label, producer, director, hero, hero’s team, choreographer, almost everyone has a say on the music,” he said. He added, “If the industry will allow each one to do their respective job, it will be beautiful. Which is not happening.” He shared that sometimes he does not even know who to cast for his own song.




During the selection of the singer, he shared, “Bhushan Kumar sir was convinced. The director was convinced. But some people from the marketing team are coming, some from the actor’s team, or some managers are suggesting, ‘Why shouldn’t we go with Arijit Singh or Vishal Mishra?”

Arijit Singh and Vishal Mishra were approached

Amaal Malik revealed that Arijit Singh and Vishal Mishra were among his choices too, but that couldn’t materialize. “I understand, my choices were these three because I wanted a little bolder voice,” he said. About Arijit Singh, Amaal Malik shared, first choice was Arijit Singh, as he had sung the previous version, and he is a friend. However, he said no because he had just done that. Vishal Mishra also stepped back, stating, "Arijit has already done it. I don't want to do."

Sonu Nigam sang the song in just 45 minutes

Amaal Malik believed only Sonu Nigam could do justice to the song, being the epitome of classical music in the country. The song was recorded in just 45 minutes. “It is the toughest song on Earth that I have also composed, re-composing Pritam’s original into a new verse,” Amaal Malik shared.

After the release, everyone praised Sonu Nigam. But Amaal Malik revealed the struggle prior to it, he added, “To bring his voice to the film, they were almost ready to remove me from the film.”

In the end, one song changed everything.Get the latest entertainment updates from the Times of India, along with the latest Hindi movies, upcoming Hindi movies in 2026 , and Telugu movies.”