Armaan Malik has not recovered yet from the Butta Bomma phenomenon. The song from the recently-released Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo became a sensational hit.
“Thaman and I knew that the song would do well, but to become a crossover national hit like this? Wow. Once the film released, it really catapulted the song’s popularity to another level,” he smiles, adding, “Now I have even people in North India singing the song to me. I think it’s all about the ‘happy feel’ the song gives and makes you want to keep listening to it.”
The 24-year-old is in Chennai to record for Harris Jayaraj, in what will be his return to Tamil cinema after a couple of years.
And the movie? No prizes for guessing, it is for Legend Saravana Stores owner Saravanan Arul’s debut movie. Armaan will be working with Harris Jayaraj and lyricist Pa Vijay for the yet-to-be-titled movie, which is directed by the director duo JD-Jerry. The movie stars Geethika Tiwary as the leading lady.
“I last worked with Anirudh for the Hindi version of Tharam Maara Single from Darbar and now I’m happy to be singing in Tamil again,” he says.
Geethika Tiwary and Saravanan Arul at the launch of their film | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Having sung for over 13 years now, the singer’s repertoire spans across languages. Surely, it must have been hard on his part to understand the lyrics of his songs... “That’s true, but I have a special technique. First I write the lyrics in English and learn to pronounce them with my dots-and-hyphen system. Then I learn the composition from the music director,” says Armaan, on how he operates, “Finally, I understand the meaning behind each verse so I can get the different emotions right while signing. It’s a complicated process, but one that works”
Armaan says he is a linguistic enthusiast — a trait that only few singers admit. He adds that it has helped him sustain in the film industry: “Not many have done it earlier, and not many will do it in the future as well. That’s why the likes of Sonu Nigam and Shreya Ghoshal are so respected. They have consistently proven themselves in so many languages.”
Observing that his voice has evolved over the years, Armaan says that he has managed to offer a “fresh feel” every time. “There’s a different pitch in my voice that doesn’t just come with age, but also with experience. All these go into the making of my voice. I think that’s why people are enjoying it,” he signs off.