Encore! Devesh Sharma Meets Armaan Malik, The Hottest Singer On The Scene

He’s the busiest singer right now, doing shows in every corner of the world and practically living out of his valises. He’s super confident and speaks more like a veteran rather than a newcomer. Correction, he’s actually a veteran considering he’s been singing since the age of 10. When other kids were checking out their new PlayStations, he was checking mikes and learning the ropes of programming. His first song was Mere buddy from Bhootnath (2008), which he had sung a few years before its release. Then he went on to sing in Taare Zameen Par (2007), in Chillar Party (2011) and some other children’s films as well. He participated in the talent show Sa Re Ga Ma Pa when he was nine and turned 10 on the show. It’s seldom that a child prodigy makes it big as an adult. But Armaan Malik’s lucky to have achieved that kind of success. Excerpts from a free-wheeling interview...

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR STINT?

It’s been a roller-coaster ride! I didn’t expect my debut to be with a Salman Khan film - Jai Ho! My brother Amaal composed the music. There was a lull of six seven months even after our big debut. My brother and I wondered whether we were cut out for this industry. I came to be known as the youngest singer to have sung for Salman but I still wasn’t getting offers.

HOW DID THE TURN AROUND HAPPEN?

Out of nowhere, I was asked to sing Naina from Khoobsurat (2014). Amaal had composed the song. I happened to be in the recording room and the director (Shashanka Ghosh) asked me to sing it. I didn’t even sing the whole song… just four lines. But those four lines caught people’s attention. Also, Salman Bhai wasn’t happy with the way our debut happened. It was his decision to opt for the EDM genre in songs like Love you till the end and Jai jai jai jai ho in Jai Ho! EDM is not the music associated with Salman’s films. It didn’t work with his image. He wanted to give us another chance. He then gave us Main hoon hero tera from Hero, the film he produced for Sooraj Pancholi and Athiya Shetty.

SO MAIN HOON HERO BOOSTED YOUR CAREER?

Yes. It caught Bhushan Kumar’s attention. I signed on T series as an artiste. I can sing for other labels too. Bhushanji’s very much involved with the way my career is shaping up. I got to sing two songs in Hate Story 3, Wajah tum ho and Tumhe apna banane ki kasam. Then, I sang a single Main rahoon ya na rahoon, featuring Emraan Hashmi and Esha Gupta. That got me noticed. People found it surprising that a 21-year-old had that kind of maturity in his voice.

YOU SEEM TO HAVE GROWN UP YOUNG.