Young musician’s tryst with destiny
“I was judged less for my work and more on my lineage.”
Music composer Amaal Malik is soon to bask under different arc lights as a reality TV judge. The young musician, who was in Luckniw to promote his new show, said, “I feel overwhelmed, as I had always thought that it would not be till I was in my 30s that I’d be able to start a career as a composer. Judging shows, I used to think, would only begin in my 40s. But luckily, I started making music when I was 19. And then did my first film in 2014 when I turned 23. Now, three years later, I’m all set to judge a music show. It’s because of my music, which catered to all generations that I got early starts.”
Malik started his career with Salman Khan’s ‘Jai Ho’. “I remember, I was extremely elated to have an opportunity to start my career with such a project and was not aware that due to my lineage, people would judge me and my work with a longer yardstick. My work did not go down well with the audience… as I said, I was judged less for my work and more on my lineage.
“After the first failure, I decided to go back to studies because I felt that music was not happening. But the work I had taken had to be completed, so I went ahead with full honestly. And my song ‘Naina’ from the film ‘Khoobsurat’ and ‘Sooraj dooba hai’ from ‘Roy’ were hits and this success made people trust me and my music. So, for me, it’s not my lineage but my music that got me work.”
Commenting on the nepotism debate, Malik said, “See, because of your family’s name maybe you can get a foot into the door but you can’t survive for long. Also, for me, I consider be it my father Daboo Malik or my brother (Armaan Malik), all of us has had our share of struggles. I remember sitting outside producers’ office with CDs and after waiting for long, getting rejected. They did meet us because of our surnames but rejected our work saying it’s not good enough.”
Malik feels remixes is not real music. “Till date, I have done 60 songs and only two or three are remixes, very early in my career. So, this track record is not at all bad for any composer. When I did a remix of the old chartbuster ‘Gulabi aankhen...,’ the song fell flat and I felt so bad. Today, I think I would never ever want any of my originals to be spoilt like this. It was because of this I refused 16 films straight last year because I just wasn’t ready to create remixes anymore. Several producers, labels just don’t believe in new music and feel that it will not promote their film. Many still have the perception that if a song is a hit then the film will be a hit too. They pressure young musicians to create a remix for their film. I consider myself lucky that I reached a certain stage in my career that I can refuse a film if such demands are put to me.”
The young musician will be seen judging Sa Re Ga Ma Pa L’il Champs along with Shaan and Richa Sharma. Talking about the show, he said, “The show will see the best talent with minimum drama because this is a platform for good music and good singers. I too want participants to actually gain the maximum from this exposure. The show will go on air from this Saturday (February 9) on Zee TV and have six participants from Uttar Pradesh itself.”