Singer Amaal Mallik jumps into nepotism debate, says ‘Maybe it’s tougher for people who have a name’

Singer Amaal Mallik, who hails from a music family, has jumped into the nepotism debate, and said, “Maybe it’s a bit tougher for people who have a name.”

After Sonu Nigam, singer Amaal Mallik has weighed in on the nepotism debate, which has been reignited after the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput. Sushant died of suicide on Sunday, at the age of 34. Amaal, who comes from a music family and is the brother of singer Armaan Malik, son of Daboo Malik and nephew of Anu Malik, said that it might be tougher for those who belong to a ‘name’ family.

Amaal Mallik and his brother Armaan are both singers in Bollywood.

He said, according to The Times of India, “First of all, with due respect to my dad, he wasn’t an ace composer. He never got the success that my uncle did. So it wasn’t a phone call that went and someone said, ‘Please listen to my son, he is a composer’. He’s obviously done his share of songs and he found his little bit of success. When Armaan sang his first song for Vishal Dadlani, he didn’t know that they were making Daboo Malik’s son sing. He went inside the studio when he was 10-11, sang a scratch and it went on to be part of Bhoothnath. He didn’t get the opportunity because he was so and so’s kid.”

Amaal continued, “A lot of people have that notion that it must have been easier for me because I had the Malik tag. But I don’t feel it’s right. With due respect to someone like Ankit Tiwari who leaves everything at home to come and make it big here without any backing, I agree I have an advantage. I know how things work. I have seen the failures of my family members so I know how it would work and that’s the only difference. I have been doing it since the age of 19, but I got my first film at 24.”

He recalled when he went with his brother and mother to meet Salman Khan on a film set, to try to get their music to him. “We waited for 7 hours until he could hear a CD of our work,” he said. “We wanted someone to launch our music and maybe just say something if he liked it. Because the music was good, he gave us an opportunity.”

He concluded, “For one year, I had no work. I don’t think anyone repeated me just like other newcomers. So it’s been a 50-50 situation. It’s not happened overnight for me or my brother as well. Maybe, it’s even a bit tougher for people who have a name.”

Upon Sushant’s death, Amaal had written a social media post in remembrance of the actor. Sharing a picture of Sushant from MS Dhoni: The Untold Story, he’d written, “As a human being, I didnt know him too much but I spent a few hours with him post the MS Dhoni Biopic release and he was child like and funny. He was very supportive and constantly had only praise for my music. I’m really saddened that we have lost him this soon.#MSDhoni was our turning point together.... My first solo soundtrack and his most challenging role.”

Previously, in a social media video, Sonu had said, “Today, Sushant Singh Rajout has died. An actor has died. Tomorrow you might just hear of a singer, a composer or a lyricist doing the same because there is a bigger mafia in the music industry than the film industry. I understand that you have to do business, people want to rule the business.”

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