EXCLUSIVE | Amaal Mallik recalls mental health struggles after doing '10-15 songs a year'

Music composer Amaal Mallik is all set to make a comeback as a background scorer after a span of five years with director Amole Gupte's Saina. Although he has been working rigorously as a composer, after 2016's biographical drama M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story, the 29-year-old took up Saina Nehwal's biopic before going on a self-sabbatical in 2017 and rejected several 'big film' offers that came his way back then to focus on his health. In an exclusive interview with Republic World, Amaal recalled the days post-signing Saina and rejecting 16-17 films to "run away" from work and "collect himself", along with revealing his take on composing remix songs. 

Amaal Mallik opens up about not wanting to join the bandwagons of 'remixes'

After kickstarting his musical career as an assistant to background scorer Amar Mohile at a young age, Amaal Mallik has undoubtedly managed to establish a name for himself in the Hindi film industry like no other, over the years. While he has been a part of multiple remix songs, the artist in him didn't let him be a part of Bollywood's current obsession with remixes. During his exclusive conversation, Amaal opened up about going on a self sabbatical at the peak of his career because of dealing with health issues. Elaborating further on the same, he said:

I was juggling a lot of things. Every year, from 2015-2018, I’ve really done about 10-15 songs a year. Somewhere, you know, the artist in me was getting tired and I was not being able to breathe, spend a day normally. My mental health was getting affected. So, not for this film (Saina) specifically, for my own self, I took that sabbatical to travel a bit, went to New Zealand. It is important for artists to run away from things and collect themselves and that’s what I did.

Amaal Mallik also recalled the day when he signed the Parineeti Chopra starrer and revealed that a lot of people questioned his decision of not accepting other big offers that came along with Saina and deciding to take a break. While he surely was on a break as a background scorer, the beloved son of Daboo Malik was working hard in terms of composing music for songs. Speaking about the same, Amaal added:

I think 17th November 2017 was when I signed Saina Nehwal’s biopic. And then, when Saina came, the offers that were coming along with it were big films, but only about remixes and I didn’t want to be a part of that bandwagon. Like, I have done a few but in my career of 6-7 years, there must 80 per cent or 90 per cent originals and just about a handful of remixes. So, I didn’t want to be known for that. I was okay with doing one film in four years and giving it my all. So, the sabbatical didn’t make much difference to me, all I lost was money, but I don’t run after money. I am more hungry about creating music that remains forever. A lot of people questioned that, when I took a break, including my parents, because there were 16-17 film offers. But, I think that sabbatical was important for me to find myself again and create something as pure and heartfelt as Saina’s songs.

When asked about what's in store for all the 'Amaalians' next, the music composer spilt the beans on his upcoming projects and shared that apart from films, his much-awaited second music video, after Tu Mera Nahi, is also in the works. However, his current focus is on Saina's album, revealed Amaal himself. He stated:

So right now, the focus is currently on releasing the entire album of Saina. I want fans to listen to all the soundtracks and let me know what they think about them. After that, I am going to take a ten-day holiday, switch off my phone and just sleep and rest so that I can get into preparing for my next single. My second single after Tu Mera Nahi and films are working for next year. A few films. This year, I guess Saina and Koi Jane Na and maybe one or two. I am not sure yet as they’re still happening. After films, its going to be my second music video which I think fans should look out for because it’s going to be really different and special.

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