Dhaval Roy (DNA; July 9, 2019)

Life has come full circle for Armaan Malik in a number of ways this year. To begin with, he is teaming up with Sunidhi Chauhan to sing the Hindi version of Can You Feel the Love Tonight in the upcoming movie, The Lion King, and he recalls opening for her at a concert when he was about 12. “Now, I share vocal duties with her on this. It’s crazy,” he smiles. Then, 2019 started with him mentoring contestants on The Voice. “I started my journey as a participant on Zee TV’s Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Li’l Champs when I was nine; at 23, I was on the other side,” he points out. Incidentally, he is also going to Los Angeles, USA, in the next few days for the world premiere of The Lion King and meeting its director, Jon Favreau. “He also directed the movie Chef and I had a song Tere Mere in the Bollywood adaptation starring Saif Ali Khan. So, yes, it feels like the ‘circle of life’ is complete,” he says, alluding to another track by the same name in The Lion King. “It’s going to be such a huge trip for me,” he says excitedly.

INTERNATIONAL PROJECTS
Armaan has also sung Hakuna Matata in The Lion King. He says that his and the Kamli hitmaker’s westernised vocals were necessary to pull off the tracks in the musical. “I’ve been singing English songs since I was about 14. And these numbers needed someone with a similar background and who could really feel them. Also, The Lion King is such an iconic movie and we’re taking its legacy forward. What’s better than that?” he quips. This is the second international project that Armaan has sung for this year — he also crooned Ek Naye Jahan Mein (A Whole New World) in Aladdin earlier.

SONGS IN BOLLYWOOD, TOO
For Armaan, the year so far has also been great in terms of Bollywood songs as well — Pehla Pyaar in Kabir Singh and Intezari in Article 15 releasing recently. Armaan points out, “One is such a commercially-successful movie and the other, critically acclaimed. As a singer, it’s not just about the songs; projects on a whole are equally important. It makes my discography look better.” He is also gung-ho about singing for Vishal Mishra and Anurag Saikia respectively for the first time.

But singing for various composers isn’t different from lending his voice to his brother Amaal Mallik’s tunes. “Since I was 10, I had been singing with multiple composers before I worked with any of my family members. From that age, I’ve known what a composer demands out of a singer. So, even when it comes to Amaal, it’s not a comfort level kind of a thing. It’s just that he can shout at me if I go wrong (laughs); that is the only familiarity factor.” He further adds that it’s his duty to fulfil what’s expected from him, “I’m completely a composer’s singer,” he states.

WORKING WITH A R RAHMAN
Armaan has worked with the best in the industry, whether Shankar Ehsaan Loy (Bum Bum Bhole in Taare Zameen Par, 2007) or now A R Rahman in 99 Songs. “I kind of pinch myself to even think that I’ve been able to sing not only one but also the second song with Rahman sir,” he enthuses. He tells us that ever since he sang for 2.0 (Mechanical Sundariye), he hoped that ARR would repeat him. “He is the pride of our nation. Just being in the same room as him is such a big thing. And I’m glad that I’m singing for his passion project. I think all the top singers have sung some songs for this movie. I’m excited about that as well.”

MORE ENGLISH MUSIC
Armaan is currently working on a lot of original, non-film singles. “I’ve always wanted to take India to a global level, which is why I have been working on English music as well. For instance, I was the youngest Indian singer to perform at Wembley Stadium in the UK. I’ve been travelling to LA as well as London and will be going across half the globe for these projects,” he tells us. So, while he has Bollywood tracks in the pipeline, he promises to soon reveal what he’s working on. “It’s something that has been my lifelong dream. I didn’t think I’d become a Bollywood singer and it just happened to me. I always wanted to croon in English. So, life is veering me in the direction that I want,” he signs off.

The actor is expected to take some serious culinary lessons before he steps into Jon Favreau's shoes in the Hindi remake of Chef, which rolls in September
Roshmila Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; March 9, 2016)


At the moment Saif Ali Khan in his Cary Grant avatar is in Arunachal Pradesh filming Vishal Bhardwaj's Casablanca-like love story set against the Second World War. But come September, the actor will metamorphose into a chef. Despite the buzz that he has been replaced by Akshay Kumar who is flying high after the success of Airlift, in the Raja Krishna Menon-directed gastronomical comedy-drama (Chef), the film's spokesperson dismissed the rumours asserting that it would be Saif wielding the ladle in this official Hindi remake of the 2014 American film.


Chef revolves around a professional chef who after a public altercation with a food critic quits his job at a popular Los Angeles restaurant and returns to his home town, Miami, to fix up a food truck. On the culinary road to LA he reconnects with his estranged ex-wife and young son while selling Cubanos in cities along the way. The role was played to perfection by Jon Favreau who has also written, produced and directed the film. While the makers are tight-lipped about details, a source close to the development informed Mirror that they are in talks with Favreau who has Jungle Book coming up, to join hands with them as an international collaborator.

"Chef is Favreau's passion project. He wrote the food-centric script in two weeks and it is semi-autobiographical, incorporating parts of his life into the character of Carl Casper. Like Carl, Favreau who helmed the big-budget Iron Man studio extravaganzas to go back to basics with the small-budget Chef which he co-produced with restaurateur Roy Choi who created the Kogi Korean BBQ food truck. To play the part to perfection, he trained at a culinary school and worked in Choi's kitchen making Cuban sandwiches," points out the source. The source adds that there is a possibility that Saif who at the moment is far from a chef will take serious culinary training in fine dining and gourmet cooking for the role.

Apparently, even before the final handshake with Favreau in Los Angeles, Saif was the only Bollywood actor they had in mind to play the title role. "He embodies the character. He has an uber cool attitude that appeals to urban sensibilities and the requisite experience to pull off this multi-layered role. He is a father himself and is at the right age to step into Favreau's shoes," reasons the source, saying the film will be shot over a span of three months across India and one major European city. "Right now they are getting together all the ingredients before they start the cooking."

The Hollywood film also featured Sofia Vergara, then 10-yearold Emjay Anthony, John Leguizamo and Bobby Cannavale. Robert Downey Jr. whom Favreau had directed in the Iron Man films, Scarlett Johansson and Dustin Hoffman added to the star power. Favreau admitted that the cast gave him "a tremendous amount of confidence". The casting for the Bollywood film is underway.

BOMBAY TIMES (July 17, 2014)