Music directors are taken for granted by film producers: Amaal Malik

Music composer Amaal Malik wants filmmakers to be more gutsy and not give in to the record labels over producing hits.

Composer Amaal Malik says music directors are not taken seriously. And he’s neither scared of anyone nor does he regret his recent Facebook post, complaining that (most) film directors are not strong enough to back their music directors.

Amaal Malik wants filmmakers to be more gutsy and support composers.

The 22-year-old accused them of giving in to the demands of producers or record labels, and forcing composers to make songs on the lines of a hit track, instead of creating tunes that go with the script.

“Barring a few like (AR) Rahman sir, who can dictate their terms, it happens with every music director,” says Malik, whose post also mentioned: “Every love song today sounds like Aashiqui 2, every wedding song a Chittiyaṅ Kalaiyaan, every club song a Chaar Baj Gaye or Subah Hone Na De, or a Sooraj Dooba Hain or a Chull.”

Read: I wanted to quit the music industry: Amaal Mallik

“You cannot expect any composer to make a song similar to a hit that already exists. Every song has a shelf life. A song in a film needs to be composed along the lines of the film. It can’t be composed because a producer says ‘Mujhe Sooraj Dooba Hain jaisa dance number chaihiye’ ... Earlier, there were only a handful of composers. If they said no to a song, a producer would be left with no one. But now, producers are confident koi toh maan hi jaega,” says the composer, who has given music for hit songs such as Sooraj Dooba Hai, Main Hoon Hero Tera and Tumhe Apne Banane Ki.

Read: Amaal Malik composed ‘Salamat’ when he was 17

Although he is happy that his colleagues from the industry have shared and liked his post, Malik doesn’t think anyone will agree with him. “I think they are all too scared of how producers and labels will react, if they say they agree with me and do this more vocally. That’s fine. I can understand the fears. But I wanted to say it because frankly I am fed up and I wish this stops sometime in future,” he says.