SONGS DON’T TEACH PEOPLE TO BELITTLE WOMEN: AMAAL

Music composer Amaal Mallik talks about the objectification of women in Bollywood music and ‘the number game’

Composer-singer Amaal Mallik believes that its “wrong” to conclude that Bollywood music encourages masses to disrespect women.

“Sorry but that’s the people going wrong, humanity going wrong. Songs don’t tell people to disrespect women... It’s made with the intention to match what the film demands, that’s about it. It’s wrong to say that songs influence people to do wrong to women,” says Amaal, who has composed for movies such as M.S. Dhoni : The Untold Story (2016) and Noor (2017).

The 27-year-old, however, feels that artists have to be “responsible” and should not promote unhealthy stereotypes in their music.

“The public appreciates and encourages you as an artist to make a name for yourself. So, what you do with that name is very important. One shouldn’t promote social stereotypes, or anything like that, just to make money or get famous. That’s wrong, too,” he says.

Meanwhile, talking about the growing popularity of Indian pop music across the globe, Amaal feels that the “number of hits” don’t necessarily reflect the song’s popularity.

“Language being a barrier between us and the world makes it difficult for every song to become a global hit. English is a widely spoken language and so its reach is more. Having said that, people are slowly breaking away from the language lock,” he says, adding, “But I don’t believe in the number game. Views and likes can be bought, so we don’t know whether a song is organically doing well or it’s all promoted propaganda. There are times when you see a song has 200 million views but it’s not loved or requested much. There are exceptions, too. If the audience loves it, the numbers don’t matter.”