Apart from being a successful composer, Amaal Mallik finds himself in the news for reasons other than his music. In a recent appearance on a podcast, Amaal talked about his career and how he manages his finances. Amaal talked about his spending habits, which put further strain on his already rocky relationship with his mother. Amaal made headlines after he announced (and then retracted) his decision to estrange himself from his parents.
While talking to Siddharth Kannan, the composer was asked about how he deals with his finances. Amaal assured everyone that he was a brilliant student of accounts back in school and that even though he has total control over his money, his mother doesn’t agree with how he spends it. “My mother has a very different relationship with money. She will never understand why the dinner bill is 20k or why I suddenly spent a lakh rupees in a single day. I am very transparent with my dad about what I spend, but I have to be careful around my mother, because she gets upset about my expenses.”
He explained that his mindset is very different than his mother’s and how he doesn’t like to limit himself if a certain situation presents itself. He said, “Sometimes you are going to a party after a show, or I am taking my people out, so I spend a good amount. I am a very generous person in that sense; I don’t feel like I have to hold on to a lot of money. For me, it’s just a means to an end.” Amaal said that he understands his mother’s perspective, because she and her father have experienced severe poverty. “She was down to the last Rs 500,” he said, recalling his father’s failed career as a composer, which he intends to make up for.
Amaal added that he has let go of a lot of payments in his career because he doesn’t care about the money. He talked about how certain big producers fail to pay the amount they promise. “There are a lot of big producers who won’t clear almost 40% of your payment, but smaller producers who don’t even have budgets don’t do this. As long as there is intent, I don’t mind working with them. I am owed around Rs 25 lakh in total, but it doesn’t matter because God has been kind, and you can make this in one night and one performance,” said Amaal.
