As the rain pours down and steaming cups of tea rule our lives, Armaan Malik, the music industry’s heartthrob, has surprised fans with a song of heartbreak. Tera Main Intezaar, composed by Amaal Mallik, was released a few days after the singer’s birthday (July 22) and it has gathered praise from all ‘Armaanians’. Over a Zoom call with t2, the 29-year-old spoke about singing a song of heartbreak after a long time and working with his brother Amaal. Excerpts.
Belated happy birthday Armaan. How was it?
I had a great birthday. I spent it the way I always wanted to.
What does Tera main intezaar talk about?
Tera main intezaar, in a nutshell, talks about the eternal wait for a lover’s return. There are many heartbreak songs. Even the word ‘intezaar’ has been used in plenty of songs but what makes this special is the somberness in the audio and video. It talks about the pain a guy feels. He feels isolated. Even though he’s trying to come close to her, circumstances and everything else are pulling him back. This is what the song is about. It talks about the deep pain incurred by a heartbreak. And I don’t think a lot of my fans have heard me in this zone in a very long time. My last heartbreak song was in a movie called De De Pyaar De. I sang Chale aana there. And I had done a single long back called Tootey khaab, which too is a heartbreak song. But after that, it was all super romantic, in-love kind of songs. Tera main intezaar is a good change for me as I’m stepping back into the zone after a long time and I’m eager to know what fans think because they’ve been waiting to hear me in something like this and see me in this kind of an avatar.
At this point in life, you probably don’t relate to the song...
That’s the beauty of songwriting. You can make up scenarios and think of ideas and concepts that may not necessarily be relatable to you at the moment but can be very relatable to someone going through a breakup or who is in an intezaar moment for their lover to return. When you make music, you have to talk about relatable emotions that speak to people; it doesn’t necessarily always need to stem from a personal space.
Do you and Amaal (Mallik, the composer) always hit it off?
It’s always amazing to team up with Amaal. We’ve had numerous hits together. Ever since we made our debut together in Bollywood, we’ve, I think, probably crossed 50 or 60 songs together. It’s still a beautiful feeling though. Even today, when I enter the studio and I’m singing Amaal’s composition I’m scared because he always puts me through a different test with each song and I come out a better singer after finishing those sessions. Tera main intezaar is a song that we’ve been working on for quite some time now. And added to the mix is Kunal Verma, who is another special collaborator of ours. We’ve worked on Chale aana before, Ghar se nikalte hi and Jaan hai meri. Lots of songs we’ve done together, which we loved working together. This trio — Amal, Kunal and I — brings out the best in me as an artiste. I always learn so much from my brother whenever I sing for him. It’s beautiful to come back to a collaboration with Amaal and, of course, Kunal.
What do you expect from your fans?
They are already reacting very positively. On all my social media pages and accounts, whatever I’ve posted so far for the song, everyone commented that ‘the OG Armaan is back’. I think it’s because they’ve waited for this kind of sound for a long time. In the last two or three years, I kind of focused on making English pop music and Indian pop music, which have a different sound. But a lot of my listeners missed me in this kind of a zone, this kind of a song — proper soulful stuff that I was known for. For example, songs like Bol do na zara, Chale aana and Kaun tujhe. I think even fans feel that it’s some sort of a comeback to the OG zone. That’s the common comment that I’ve been receiving so far. I hope that people are resonating with the number. I’m pretty sure that everyone who has heard my songs will pick this up.
What was the big turning point in your career?
I have many turning points in my career. I started as a child artiste. The first turning point was participating in Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Li’l Champs... at age nine. The second turning point was my debut in Bollywood films as a child singer... in Taare Zameen Par for the song Bum bum bole. Then I was launched in Jai Ho by Salman Khan sir and it was my debut as an adult playback singer. Then it would definitely be the moment in 2020 when I shifted gears from Hindi to English music and put out my first English song — Control. There have been many other milestones as well winning the European Music Awards twice for my songs. I can’t talk about just one major turning point. All of these are contributing milestones and turning points for me. Tera main intezaar comes at a pivotal moment... when I have kind of stayed away, especially from the Hindi music zone, for the last few years and I feel like this is my comeback into this zone. I’m very excited. You’re going to hear a lot of my songs, a lot of my non-film songs in Hindi, my English stuff and international collaborations will also be there. Tera main intezaar is a big turning point for me.
Are you collaborating with international artistes currently?
There are many but I’ll keep it a secret for now and surprise my fans. Recently, I collaborated with British singer Calum Scott and opened for Ed Sheeran in Mumbai. I sang Always on stage with him. There are a bunch of other collaborations that I’ve lined up and, hopefully, in the next six months to a year, you’ll see all of those come to life. In future, I would like to work with Charlie Puth and if Justin Bieber comes back to making music... definitely with him.
From Bum bum bole to now: How would you define your journey?
I won’t be able to comprehensively tell you in one line. Years of hard work have gone into building who I am and what I am today. I was eight years old when I started singing in a studio and then nine when I participated in a reality show and then Bum bum bole happened. There was no looking back. I knew that this was something I was born to do. I’m grateful for all the opportunities that have come my way. Obviously, there have been struggles and hurdles in my career but I don’t think anyone’s life is without struggles. When you’re in the entertainment field, the only problem is that your struggles are before the public, but others can be private about their struggles. I think that is difficult to navigate for a lot of people, but I think I’ve been able to do it and come out shining. I hope to continue making good music.