Composer and singer Amaal Mallik’s personal life was put on centre stage when he announced that he was cutting ties with his parents and blamed them for the distance that had appeared between him and his brother, singer Armaan Mallik. In a recent interview, he explained the reasons behind his decision, and how the pressures from his family got too much to handle after a certain point. They have since made up, after he had a conversation with them a few days after posting on social media about his intention to sever ties.
Talking to Siddharth Kannan on his podcast, Amaal admitted that he felt exhausted with all that was going on in his life and just wanted to be alone and make his music. He said, “I think I just hit a ceiling. My family failed to understand the amount of stress I was dealing with because of the industry and my work. In order to make truly original music, you need a stable mind. I have no idea how I managed to do it for so long, but then it got to a point where I was like, ‘Everyone, please get off my back; I am trying to work.’”
He then talked about differences with his parents in general and how they could have tried to be more understanding of his mental situation and all that he was going through. “There were a lot of differences that we had to deal with. My father and I were arguing a lot. He told me that I was the ‘trial-ball’ for him, and back when I was born, he was trying to figure out parenthood in the best way he could.” He then moved to his mother, who, according to him, doesn’t agree with his lifestyle and feels that Amaal is a “rebellious and undisciplined person”.
He added, “My mother failed to understand whatever I was going through, and she started comparing my timeline to Armaan’s, which isn’t fair. Everything happens according to its own pace. In their eyes, both brothers should earn the same and live the same kind of life, which is not possible. I sent that post out because I just wanted everyone to back off and let me do my work and make my music.” Amaal expressed his love for Armaan, and said that his little brother will always remain his “darling”.
Amaal talked about the day after the post and how people on the internet and in his personal life reacted to the news. “I didn’t pick anyone’s calls for at least days days, and at the end of it, I had, like, 400 missed calls. My friends and other people close to me were worried that I might do something to hurt myself, but I assured them that nothing like that is going to happen. Since then I think even they have realised a lot of things, and we have come much closer now.”
