Singer Amaal Mallik recently sat down for a podcast episode with Siddharth Kannan, where he candidly shared his feelings of dissatisfaction with his parents, his spending habits, and the financial struggles his family endured, including a time when his mother was left with just Rs 500.
‘I spend money on songs like water’
“I spend money on songs like it’s water. If I get a budget of Rs 20 lakh, I’ll spend Rs 25 lakh; if I get a budget of Rs 30 lakh, I’ll spend Rs 35 lakh. I’ll put an additional Rs 5 lakh from my side. My mother doesn’t understand these things, and she doesn’t like the idea that I would not save up on my music,” Mallik said on the podcast.
He reasoned that his mother comes from a proper South Indian meticulous background, where it’s all about savings and FDs (fixed deposits).
‘Have to hide dinner bills from mom’
Mallik further said that his financial matters are always transparent with his father, Daboo Malik, but there are times when he feels the need to hide dinner bills from his mom. He said that he previously didn’t quite understand why his mother didn’t approve of his spending habits, but now, he has a better understanding of things, given his family’s financial struggles in the past.
“My accounts are very clear with my dad. Simple. I don’t hide anything from him. With mom, sometimes if the dinner bill gets too high, I have to hide it. Because it’s a mindset. I’ve only started understanding this in the last three months. I am coming from a fresh perspective of understanding my family’s past and how their income was,” he further said.
Mallik added, “So, they will never understand why the bill is Rs 20,000 or why I spent Rs 1 lakh in one day. It’s not that we spend that much every day, but there are days when I take my people out, have an event, or go for dinner after a show with the band. It’s those things. And I’m a generous person, you know. For me, money is just a means.”
‘Mom was once down her last Rs 500’
Mallik said that his parents have seen extreme poverty, and that his mother was once down to a three-digit amount in her account. “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.
He also said that he has let go of a lot of payments in his career because the primary reason is that he doesn’t care much about the money. Armaan Malik’s brother further claimed that a lot of big producers won’t clear almost 40 per cent of his payment, adding, “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.”
Dad keeps a tab on finances
The singer further said that his dad keeps a tab on his finances and knows “exactly where he is spending”.
“When I make a purchase, the bank sends him the statements, so he knows everything. All the credit card, bank accounts, investments, mutual funds, and stock market details—dad is always in the loop. He’ll call me and ask, ‘Hey, I’m looking at this. What do you think?’ We discuss it, both of us…,” he further revealed.
“My dad knows exactly where I’m spending. My accountant handles the paperwork and clears everything, no problem. I’m clear with my accounts.”
Mallik opens up on Instagram post about parents
The 35-year-old singer, who in an Instagram post said that his parents are the reason for the drift between him and his brother, opened up about not deleting it, instead archiving it, given the fact that it was all over social media.
The 35-year-old singer, who had previously shared in an Instagram post that his parents were behind the rift between him and his brother, discussed why he chose to archive the post instead of deleting it. He explained that people were misconstruing the post after it went viral.
He also claimed to have received 500 calls on his phone after he put out the social media post.
