A year may have passed since Aashiqui 2 released, but songs like ‘Tum Hi Ho’ still dominate the air waves. Much to Mithoon Sharma’s delight. The musical mind behind the soundtrack, Mithoon’s name isn’t as prolific, but his songs which include ‘Woh Lamhe’ from Zeher (which was a remake of a song by the famous Pakistani band Jal), ‘Maula mere maula’ from Anwar are. Sweeping almost all the awards, including a Filmfare for Best Music this year, Mithoon feels he is just reaching his element.
This May, the musician will be going on a musical tour along with fellow singers Arijit Singh, Roop Kumar Rathode and Shilpa Rao in a three-city Gulf tour. Speaking ahead of his preparation for the gig, Mithoon tells us about growing up and why Aashiqui 2 holds the dearest place in his heart.
Growing up
Coming from a musical family, where his grand father Late Shri Pt Ramprasad Sharma was a musical genius, an institution in himself that trained many music composers, and his father Naresh Sharma, another renowned musician. Interestingly, Mithoon’s father arranged music for the duo Nadeem-Shravan for the original Aashiqui film in the 90s. Perhaps it was only fitting then that Mithoon did the music for the remake.
“It was really an overwhelming experience to see the way people received the music of Aashiqui 2 and it was a very special time for my family considering how significant my father’s role was in the soundtrack of the original Aashiqui,” shares Mithoon.
Starting his musical journey at young age, Mithoon had the opportunity to be exposed to some of the best of the time, courtesy his family. “Since my father was a music arranger for films, we would always have singers and musicians come over to our place for discussions and music sessions. I was trained in both Indian classical music and then playing the piano. I don’t know what I would have been if not a musician because music is all that I know,” he says.
B’wood break
Despite the early start, Mithoon’s first break into Bollywood was only seven years ago with his debut, ‘Woh Lamhe’ from the movie Zeher. He followed it up with numbers like ‘Juda Hoke Bhi’ from Kalyug and ‘Tere Bin’ from the movie Bas Ek Pal, all rendered even more mellifluous in the voice of Atif Aslam, who simultaneously became a singing sensation.
Despite being typecast for their poignant ballads at that time – music by Mithoon and vocals by Atif, Mithoon knows how music can impact people.
“I always see music from a very clear perspective, which is, that a good song always touches people and speaks to people’s hearts,” he says.
Moving up the ladder ever since, Aashiqui 2 finally put him in the big league. “For me, to lead the Aashiqui 2 soundtrack and create the title track has been like life coming to a full circle because my father said he had forgotten the original Aashiqui after listening to my compositions.”
Besides Bollywood, Mithoon also has the credit of composing music for the Malaysian film Diva which he calls his best learning experience. The film allowed him to spend two months in Malaysia doing five songs and also the background score for the movie.
“It was very liberating for me since it was outside my comfort zone in India and without friends and family. Apart from myself, Bosco Ceasar were there as the choreographers amongst others working on the movie. I returned to India as a much evolved composer,” he shares.
Coming up
Besides the tour that kickstarts on May 16 and a possible Indian tour following that, Mithoon has in his kitty Vikram Bhat’s Creature that releases on May 31. He is also composing music for the Fox-Endemol produced Traffic as well as Ranbir Kapoor’s thriller Roy, due for release between July-September this year.
“I’ve also worked on a ballad for Samrat & Co and will be composing for Mohit Suri’s directorial The Villain 2 for Balaji Telefilms which is due around the same time as Roy.”
This 29-year old clearly enjoys good poetry and melodies which comes through in his songs. Pointing out that the connect that his music develops is what drives him, he says, “Minimalist arrangements, which I enjoy the most, can create an impact and I will continue to do that.” And by the sounds of it, his fans love him just for that.