Music composer Amaal Mallik says his hit song ‘Sooraj Dooba Hai’ earned crores for music labels, but left him with almost nothing. He also reveals that speaking up about rights and crediting cost him work on nearly 45 films in Bollywood.
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In Bollywood, a hit song usually means fame, money, parties, power. But what if the song earns crores and the person who created it is left with almost nothing? That uncomfortable question is back in the spotlight, thanks to music composer and singer Amaal Mallik, who has once again spoken about how the Hindi film music industry really works.
“Sooraj Dooba Hai,” the peppy romantic song from the 2015 film ‘Roy’, was everywhere when it released. It played at weddings, clubs, road trips, radio stations for years. The song helped define Amaal Mallik’s early career and became chartbuster loved by millions.
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But behind the catchy tune and smooth vocals was a harsh reality.
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In recent interview with Pinkvilla, Amaal revealed that the song was made on a budget of just Rs 8-9 lakh. Yet, over time, it reportedly earned Rs 60-70 crore for the music label.
And Amaal?
“I got nothing,” he said bluntly. Except for some publishing rights that, according to him, are “negligible” and not even close to Rs 1 crore.
“I want to make that kind of money to help people,” he said. “That money can only come if I have rights or equal rights or some kind of right, jo film music mein nahi milta hai.”
In very simple terms, Amaal is saying this: If creators had fair rights, they could earn fairly. And if they earned fairly, they could give back more.
He even shared a deeply personal detail to underline his point.
“Sixteen years later, I just bought a car for myself,” he said. “Never did anything for myself. It was always people around me.”
Honesty is expensive in Bollywood. Amaal admitted that taking strong stands has repeatedly hurt him professionally.
“There was a time when I was working on a film in the morning,” he said, “and by evening, we were fighting a court case.”
He also revealed a stunning number: “In the last five years, I was dropped from 40 to 45 films.”
That is not a small loss. That is a career-altering blow.
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