Salman Khan is known in Bollywood not just as a superstar but also as one of the few actors who regularly launches new talent. His 2015 film Hero marked the Bollywood debut of Suraj Pancholi and Athiya Shetty. Years later, an interesting story from that film has surfaced. Music composer Amaal Mallik has revealed why Salman Khan decided to re-record the film's popular song Main Hoon Hero Tera in his own voice, even though the original version had already become a massive hit.
An attempt to shift attention away from negativity
In a conversation, Amaal Mallik recalled that Salman Khan wanted to divert public attention away from the negativity building up around the film's two newcomers at the time. As the film's release drew closer, criticism directed at star kids began spreading heavily on social media. According to Amaal, Salman told him he needed to do something that would end this negativity and shift the entire focus away from Suraj and Athiya and onto himself instead. Salman decided he would take all the trolling upon himself. He told Amaal that he would sing the song himself and place it in the end credits, reasoning that since he was launching them and was himself a hero, he should be the one singing it. He then asked Amaal to dub the track in his voice and see how it turned out.
Armaan's version was already a hit before the recording
Amaal clarified that the original version of Main Hoon Hero Tera was sung by his brother Armaan Malik, and the song became an instant favourite the moment it released with the film's trailer. In Amaal's words, by the time Armaan's voice was heard in the song, it had already turned into a blockbuster. But as the film's release approached, the controversy around the star kids changed the mood, and that is when Salman decided to record a fresh version in his own voice.
The song was recorded at eight different locations
Amaal explained that recording the song in Salman's voice was not a quick task, it was a long process. Before the final version was locked, the song was recorded repeatedly across different locations. In total, this single song was dubbed at eight separate places. Amaal noted that singing on different microphones usually changes the tone of a voice, but the team got lucky since they carried the same microphone to every location and recorded the entire song on it, which kept the sound consistent.
The journey began at Himesh Reshammiya's studio
According to Amaal, the first recording session for the song took place at Himesh Reshammiya's studio, where dubbing continued for about three hours. The second session was held at Yash Raj Studio, the third at Salman's farmhouse in Panvel, and the fourth on a film set. During recording, Amaal would first sing a line himself and Salman would then repeat it, and the song came together step by step through this process.
Salman never considers himself a singer
Amaal also revealed that Salman Khan never really considers himself a singer. He would often tell Amaal that he was not a singer and that Amaal should decide for himself how it sounded. Despite this, Amaal went ahead and recorded the song in Salman's voice, a decision that later proved to be completely right as the song went on to become a huge hit.
A sound that was never recreated again
Speaking about the final output, Amaal said the remarkable sound they had created for Main Hoon Hero Tera was never replicated again. He acknowledged that Salman went on to sing several songs after this, but the style in which he sang for Hero remained something truly special. Amaal recalled that Salman himself once told him the magic created in that particular song was unmatched and could never be repeated the same way again.
A fun incident from the music video shoot
Amaal also shared an amusing incident from the shoot of the song's music video. He said that during the shoot, the moment Salman removed his sunglasses, Amaal asked him why he had done that. Salman laughingly replied that the real views would come from exactly that moment. Amaal believes Salman knows very well what he represents, has complete confidence in his own stardom, and truly delivered something special with this song.
