Mithoon Sharma has created a niche with his chartbusters in Murder 2, Yariyaan, Ashiqui 2 and Hamari Adhuri Kahani. He chats with K Bhardwaj about being selective and why he doesn’t keep a bank of compositions
It was just an hour ago that Humnava, the latest track from Emraan Hashmi-Vidya Balan starrer Hamari Adhuri Kahani, was officially released on YouTube. Compliments had begun to pour in when we caught up with music director Mithoon Sharma, the man who has successfully created his niche in the industry. In the last one decade, he has given several hits, so the immediate success of Humnava didn’t come as a surprise. “The song has just come out and my phone is buzzing with compliments. I worked on this track for three months, from December to February. I generally take a long time in creating compositions, so the reward is always gratifying,” he said over the phone.
The young musician takes his own time in creating melodies and his tracks like Woh lamhe (Zeher), Aadat (Kalyug), Tere Bin (Bas Ek Pal), Phir Mohabbat (Murder 2) and Baarish (Yaariyan) have been chartbusters. But he has been selective in his work. In the last 11 years, he has done less than 15 movies. “I don’t create music for the market. I am a musician because I like doing it for myself. I love creating melodies. I sit with the filmmaker, understand the flow of the script and then decide on the composition,” he said.
He explained, “Hamari Adhuri Kahani is an intense love story. It needs to be decorated with simple love songs. Humnava is the first love track between Emraan and Vidya. It’s a situational song, when Emraan and Vidya come close to each other for the first time and feel that they can be together in life. But they are mature and know it doesn’t come that easy. So there is a battle of mind and heart, which is reflected in the track. Papon has crooned this song amazingly.”
Mithoon takes less assignments and is happy that industry has also complied to his terms and conditions. “I’m not arrogant but I know what I bring to the table. So filmmakers know that I don’t have a bank of compositions, and it is their story which will drive my song. So it naturally takes time. The good part is that directors and production houses have understood my style of working. They don’t pressurise me. Whoever comes to me gives me my time. And I am also on the higher side of the remuneration. So money doesn’t bother me,” he said.
Mithoon comes from a musical family and started learning music at the age of 11. His father, Naresh Sharma, a veteran music arranger, was his first tutor. He is the grandson of legendary musician Pt Ramprasad Sharma and nephew of Pyarelal (laxmikant-Pyarelal). “I started assisting my father at 18. I composed my first track forZehar the very next year. Since then, I have been working independently,” he said.
He is presently busy making music for his next, Traffic, in which he will deviate from melodies for a change. “Traffic is about a heart transplant incident where a live heart is transported from Pune to Mumbai by car. So the film is about chaos on the way. So the music needs the anxiety and chaotic elements. I’m still working on that,” he shared.
His forte lies in melodies. He is inspired by human emotions. “I’m driven by human life. We are no superheroes. We are weak, emotional, sensitive and vulnerable. My songs are a tribute to these values of mankind and how people love and hate each other. I write and make compositions to express feelings,” he said.