Amaal Mallik says his mother saw poverty after father Daboo Malik's failed career: ‘She was down to last ₹500’

Music composer Amaal Mallik shared insights on his family's financial hardships and his music career journey.

Music composer Amaal Mallik grabbed headlines when he broke ties with his family and announced it on social media. In a recent interview with Siddharth Kannan, Amaal talked about his parents' financial condition. He recalled how his father Daboo Malik's failure in the music industry led him to be a composer.

Amaal Mallik talks about his parents facing poverty.

Amaal Mallik on parents' financial struggle

Amaal recalled how her mother navigated the financial struggles and said, "My mother saw a lot of bad times and poverty because nothing worked out for my dad in the industry. She would guide us to do music, but never as a profession. She has seen the worst; she was down to the last ₹500. Mere liye aisa tha ki main ek 10 saal ka baccha yeh witness kar raha hun ki ek couple crumble ho raha hai. Inki jagah nahi bann rahi industry (For me, it was like being a 10-year-old child witnessing a couple fall apart. They weren’t able to find their place in the industry), and those things added fuel to the fire that I really want to be a music composer just for my father. Otherwise, I wanted to be a cricketer."

Amaal revealed that his mother often considered him 'foolish' for his approach to spending on music. He admitted to consistently exceeding budgets for his songs—if he received ₹20 lakh, he would end up spending ₹25 lakh; for a ₹30 lakh budget, he would push it to ₹35 lakh, often adding ₹5 lakh from his own pocket. According to Amaal, his mother didn’t understand the reasoning behind such decisions and was uncomfortable with the fact that he wouldn’t save money.

He revealed that though his father knows everything about his money spending, he often tend to hide his dinner bills from his mother if they exceed a certain limit. Amaal further claimed that a lot of big producers won’t clear almost 40 per cent of his payment, adding, “I am owed around ₹25 lakh in total, but it doesn’t matter because God has been kind, and you can make this in one night and one performance.”

About Amaal Mallik

Amaal made his debut as a music composer with Salman Khan's film Jai Ho. He went on to compose music in films like Khoobsurat, Baaghi, Golmaal Again, Kabir Singh and Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3, among others.