Despite being a global music icon, Arijit Singh is often spotted cruising around on his scooty and is known for maintaining a humble, down-to-earth lifestyle. His simplicity has won hearts across the country.

But is that modest persona just a cover for the jaw-dropping amount he reportedly charges for a single concert?

Saawariya’s composer Monty Sharma recently revealed Arijit Singh’s fees for a concert.

© Instagram/Arijit Singh

During an interaction with Lallantop, Monty Sharma revealed, “Everything has evolved over a period of time. Earlier, we used to make a complete song for ₹2 lakh. This included an entire orchestra, which included 40 violins and a lot of other things. Eventually, when I created a brand name for myself after a couple of my works did well, I started to charge ₹35,000 per song, irrespective of the other expenses included to make a song.”

He added, “When Arijit used to come and sit with me, he used to sit for 6 hours straight. Now, he charges ₹2 crore for a performance, for a show. So if someone wants to do a show, they do give ₹2 crore. Earlier, people used to hear songs on the Radio or on television; now, people have it on YouTube. So now the exposure has increased. With the emergence of OTT and YouTube, the money is humongous. So if I am doing a song for 15-20 lakhs, 90% of the rights audio company takes it. They are the ones making mad money right now.”

© Instagram/Arijit Singh

Monty first gained recognition for arranging tracks in Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, notably the popular title track Nimbuda, which caught the attention of Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Impressed by his musical sensibilities, Bhansali brought him on board to compose the background scores for Devdas (2002) and Black (2005), both of which earned Monty significant critical acclaim.

He made his debut as a full-fledged music director with Saawariya (2007), another Bhansali production. Following that, he composed music for several other films including Chamku, Naughty@40, Run Bhola Run, Spark, and others.