Amaal Mallik: The limitations of the lockdown didn’t stop me from recording music

Though a lot has changed in the music industry since the pandemic, singer-composer Amaal Mallik is optimistic about the future and has already started planning shows for the coming year. The

Suraj Dooba Hai

composer, who was in town on Saturday to meet Jaideep Tarphale, his sound engineer, spoke to us about the current state of the music industry, why he thinks Indian female artistes can be game-changers and how he really feels about nepotism. The artiste is known for creating tracks like 'Jab Tak', '

Ghar Se Nikalte Hi

', '

Bol Do Na Zara

', 'Buddhu Sa Mann', 'Sab Tera', among others.

'VIRTUAL JAMMING IS A DIFFERENT KIND OF HIGH'
“While I miss jamming with my guitarists, rangers, lyric writers, and music producers, and making music together, the limitations of the lockdown didn’t stop me from recording music," says Amaal, who collaborated with a Macedonia-based orchestra, for the Saina's biopic, starring Parineeti Chopra, amid the lockdown. "I worked with the 40-piece orchestra to remotely record songs over Skype. Seeing 40 people playing in masks virtually was a different kind of high,” he adds.
The 29-year-old artiste says that another silver lining in the lockdown was that it led to the rise of indie artiste. The artiste made his pop debut with '

Tu Mera Nahin

' on Thursday.






“Now, you can only see good content doing well and not the usual remixes, which dominated Bollywood the past two years. Indie music is picking up and artistes are more confident about putting out music with no big name attached to it,” says Amaal, adding that it's also because “we are now getting in touch with our emotions, breaking away from all the noise of the world. Mostly alone or with our close ones, we are connecting with music that resonates with our emotions.”

'LABELS AND PRODUCERS STILL DON'T BELIEVE SONGS WITH FEMALE VOICES WORK'
Amaal spoke about sexism and ageism against women in the music industry on social media recently. "Indian Musical Stars (Females) can change the game, (sic)" he had written.

Elaborating on the same, he says,“Why are always telling female singers and composers what they can’t do. Unfortunately, we have very few female composers in our country, but Sneha Khanwalkar, Alokananda Dasgupta, and Jasleen Royal are forces to reckon with. None of the boys could understand what Sneha did in Gangs of Wasseypur or how quirky she made the track Maa Ka Phone in Khubsoorat."

He continues, "At the same time, the number of songs with female voices are still relatively lower in our country. I am one of the few composers who has been lucky enough to manage to do songs with female singers, despite the labels and producers wanting otherwise. They don’t believe that songs with female voices can work and often push us to work with male singers.”

In fact, Amaal has also been asked why he would want to compose music for a biopic of a female sportstar. “I have seen the journey and struggles of these girls - Saina Nehwal and Parineeti (who is my childhood friend) - and I know it has been extremely difficult for them to make things happen. Saina had her own fight against the system, he says, adding, "I love to do songs that speak of the female heart.”

‘I WANTED TO QUIT MUSIC AND SELL BURGERS’
Amaal also speaks about the challenges he too has faced in the industry, despite coming from a family of musicians. “I have been replaced in 16-17 films,” says the Aashiq Surrender Hua composer. “In my first film (Jai Ho), my music failed - it was too new - so, many people wrote about me - ‘not a chip off the old block'. With so much criticism, I was almost on the verge of quitting music and going to New Zealand to live with my aunt and sell burgers. Socha petrol pump pe bhi kaam kar lunga, lekin music nahin karunga. It was difficult to compete with my uncles (Anu and Abu Malik) and father (Dabboo Malik), and to live up to the legacy of my grandfather (Shri Sardar Malik),” says Amaal.
When asked for thoughts about the nepotism debate, he says, “While I think it is okay for a talented person from a famous family to be given the platform, it should never be at the cost of killing a deserving candidate’s opportunity.”