Singing The Right Tune

He is one of the youngest recipients of the coveted R D Burman Awards.A versatile singer with an ever increasing fan base, ARMAAN MALIK gives Riya Lakhmani a sneak peak into his musical journey. Read on…

- Riya Lakhmani

You belong to a known gharana where music has been an instilled passion for three generations. Did you want to be a singer, an actor or something else?

There was no singer as such in the family - all of them were music composers who wrote lyrics. But I always wanted to be a singer as I always had this passion for singing. I started singing at the age of five and even learnt Hindustani classical when I was seven. I always knew this is something I want to do for the rest of my life and want to be known for it.

You kick-started your career at a very young age with a reality show Sa Re Ga Ma Pa and Little Champs, how has your journey been so far?

It was amazing. It’s been almost a decade since Sa Re Ga Ma Pa and Little Champs happened to me. It was 2006 and now, 10 years down the line, I am living the dream I had seen. So it definitely feels great! I already have a few good songs to my credit. And I feel blessed to be one of the youngest singers to receive the R D Burman Awards and other jury awards for Main Hoon Hero Tera from the film Hero. I am also the youngest Indian to play at the SSE Arena Wembley, London. All these years have indeed been eventful for me. I am glad that I am doing what I always wanted to do. Since I had a passion for it.

How did you get your first break?

I’ve sung for around 200 jingles and advertisements. I also did voiceovers for brands like Bournvita, Kellogs. During that time, I met a lot of notable composers like Amit Trivedi and Salim - Sulaiman. Gradually, I started getting calls from them. So it was more of a ripple effect. I sang in the film Bhootnath for Vishal and Shekhar, in Chillar Party for Amit Trivedi, and also Bam Bam Bole in