Armaan Malik on Coldplay, Maroon 5’s shows getting sold out: Because of it, Indian acts are becoming bigger

Armaan Malik insists that this year has been quite poignant for his growth as an artiste as he feels he has become the artiste he aspired to be. He says, “I feel like I’m coming into my own with each song. I think I am evolving into another artiste altogether, the artiste that I’ve always wanted to be, that I always believed I was, and looked up to being.”

The singer credits this growth to his diversification across languages including English pop, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada. “I believe that I am a pan-India singer, and not just a Hindi singer. As an artiste, I’m breaking boundaries with my music by being able to collaborate with artistes from different parts of the world, across genres. That gives me the freedom to express myself. Being just a playback singer was very restrictive but as an independent artist, someone who’s waving the flag of I-pop in India and across the globe, I think I’ve been able to have the freedom to shape my music, and shape my own sound and artistry.”

Speaking about his collaboration with Calum on Always, Armaan insists that “it felt natural right from the start”. “We had this amazing connection, and the song just came together in our very first session. Since both Calum and I are known for singing emotional love songs, we shared a similar vibe. He pushed me to tap deeper into my own emotions, and we just seemed to understand what Always needed to be—a pure, heartfelt love song,” he shares.

With artistes like Diljit Dosanjh getting international recognition and sold out shows across the world, Armaan believes it’s a “beautiful time for Indian artists”. He says, “Even my shows recently in Hyderabad and Bangalore have all gone, sold out. I would have never imagined I would be playing a concert in a stadium in Hyderabad and selling out 35,000 tickets. The level of love and excitement that fans and listeners have for the Indian artistes now and the desire to see their music live, it’s incredible.”

The singer also talks about India becoming a sought-after destination for international artistes like Coldplay, Maroon 5 and more, who have upcoming shows in the country. “The whole environment has shifted and people like Ed Sheeran are coming to the country wanting to collaborate with artistes like me, and want to take the stage with us. To have such big international acts come to our country, we also need to develop our entertainment infrastructure to host such big audiences. It’s growing slowly, and I feel like we will be a big destination for international artistes. We already are, but we’ll be even bigger in the future,” he insists, adding that this Western influx is benefitting Indian talent too: “Not only international acts, but because of this whole movement, Indian artistes and Indian acts are becoming bigger than ever.”