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'Sooraj Dooba Hain earned ₹70 crore, I got ₹ 1 cr': Amaal Mallik reveals South composers get 5 times more than Bollywood
Amaal Mallik said he was first to insist on getting composer credit in his songs and revealed how he was dropped for 45 films for speaking up for himself.
Music composer Amaal Mallik recently opened up about the problems plaguing the Hindi film music industry. In an interview with Pinkvilla, the singer revealed how he has been dropped from films for speaking up and drew comparisons between the earnings of Hindi and South Indian music composers.
Amaal Mallik on how South composers earn 5 times more than Hindi music composers
Amaal spoke about the lack of equal rights in the Hindi film music industry and revealed that he has only been able to buy a car for himself in 16 years. He further explained the disparity in earnings between Hindi and South Indian composers and, citing Sooraj Dooba Hain as an example, said, “It earned ₹60–70 crore for the label, and I got nothing except publishing rights, which are negligible — not even close to ₹1 crore. There are composers in the South earning ₹10–15 crore while retaining their rights. In Hindi cinema, composers get ₹2–3 crore and give everything up. Money enables people with good intentions. If I want to help others, I need that financial freedom.”
The composer and singer also spoke about the fight for credit in the Bollywood music industry and revealed that he was the first composer to insist on being credited in 2004. He said, “Today, you see composer credits everywhere, but I was the first to insist on this back in 2004. There were times when I would start work on a film in the morning and be fighting a court case by evening. In the last five years, I was dropped from 40–45 films.”
About Amaal Mallik
Amaal began his career as a music composer with Salman Khan’s Jai Ho. He gained recognition with Sooraj Dooba Hain from Roy and followed it up with a string of successful songs such as Soch Na Sake from Airlift, Kar Gayi Chull from Kapoor & Sons, Kaun Tujhe and Jab Tak from MS Dhoni: The Untold Story, among others. He also expanded his musical presence through independent releases, with early singles like Chal Wahan Jaate Hain and Main Rahoon Ya Na Rahoon achieving widespread popularity. He was most recently seen as a participant on Salman Khan’s Bigg Boss 19.
