Over 350 film songs in, Armaan Malik, one of the most-known and go-to voices for film music across the country today, reveals he never set out to become one of south Indian cinema's go-to voices. He simply followed where the music led.
As his Kannada track for the newly released Ramayana, 'Mangala Sangama', won the singer praise and love, he looks back on his journey into the industry. "I never had any crazy intention or ambition when it came to doing different regional languages,” he tells THR India. “It was something I felt was an extension of me singing in Hindi, or any other language.”
A few Kannada songs in, he remembers seeing a shift in his career. “The audience started really loving these songs, I started getting a lot of show inquiries from Bangalore, and from that region in specific. It was beautiful to see the kind of love people gave me for these songs.”
The singer describes truly enjoying singing in the language, calling it “one of the most smoothest languages to sing in.”
As time passed, Malik's collaborations beyond Hindi cinema began to grow substantially. “I started collaborating with all the top people from the industry,” he recollects. The singer gushes, “It's now reached a point where people, I think, identify me more as a Kannada and Telugu singer than a Hindi singer. It's incredible!”
He credits his dialect and language coaches on each project for guiding him to perfect his diction in these languages. “I want it to feel like it's a Kannadiga boy singing it and not otherwise. That is where the coaches and lyricists really help me with the diction.”
Though, with over 15 years beyond Hindi tracks alone, Malik admits that he's gotten a better grasp of the language, explaining, “It's always good to have them when I'm in the studio. But having sung so many songs, I have a fair idea of how to pronounce most of the words.”
No experience illustrates the unpredictability of his journey better than 'Butta Bomma,' from Allu Arjun and Pooja Hegde-starrer Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo (2020), which went on to become the most-viewed Telugu song on YouTube.
Malik gushes as he recollects, “Honestly, 'Butta Bomma' was one of the funniest and craziest recordings. I actually sang it in a hotel room in Hyderabad.”
He continues, “Thaman S, the composer, books out a couple of rooms and floors in a hotel in Hyderabad and all the musicians jam and start singing there. Most of the vocals that we record in the hotel get added to the final song. 'Butta Bomma' was one of those songs.”
He also admits that even over the years, it remains challenging to know for certain which track will become a hit among listeners. “At the time, I didn't know that it would be that big a chartbuster because I sing so many songs in so many languages. I feel I don't have the ability to ascertain which one will do what.”
Malik calls the song a life-changing one, as it became one that “actually transcended language and boundaries." The scale of its reach still strikes him. “Being requested to sing 'Butta Bomma' in Delhi was a shocker for me,” he says, explaining that the city usually requests Hindi and Punjabi tracks instead.
This year brought the singer a different kind of multilingual challenge: singing four language versions of 'Maravillai,' from the Malayalam film I'm Game, which also marked his first collaboration with actor and producer Dulquer Salmaan.
Only his second Malayalam song thus far, Malik opens up about the process behind the four tracks. “Once I'd sung the source language, singing the others became easier, because the emotion stayed the same... only the language changed,” he shares.
Reflecting on a 19-year career, Malik can't choose one sole highlight moment. From winning the 61st Filmfare RD Burman award, to debuting his English single 'Control' and becoming the first Indian artist to be featured on the Spotify billboard in Times Square, the singer admits that picking just one isn't easy.
For all of it, he's not had his “I've made it” moment.
“I'm far from it,” he says. “I've set my sights on global domination. I don't want to be known just as an Indian playback singer; I want to be known as an Indian pop star on the global stage.” With a collaboration with Ed Sheeran, and a track with Eric Nam and KSHMR, Malik has taken steps in the direction, but is clear that there's more he wants from it. “That's my biggest dream.”
This pursuit of a global audience is currently taking shape in the form of his first English album, currently in progress. “I've made more than 30 demos for my album, and I'm still building all of them, building my sound,” he says, describing recent trips to Los Angeles and London spent working on the record. Hoping for a 2027 release, he chimes, “Hopefully soon you'll see a new avatar of Armaan Malik.”