Candid chat with Bollywood music composer Palash Muchhal

He is just 19 but holds the distinction of making superstar Amitabh Bachchan dance to his tunes Records are not new for him He entered the Guinness Book of World Records about 15 years ago as the youngest guitarist and now he has made it to the Golden Book Of Records as the youngest music composerPalash Muchhal strums his guitar at his Andheri residence and below Palash at his studio PicsRonak SavlaMeet Palash Muchhal the man errr boy behind Party Toh Banti Hai from Bhoothnath Returns and Tu Hi Hai Aashiqui from Dishkiyaoon He was busy at work at his studio in Andheri when hitlist caught up with him for a freewheeling chat Excerpts from an interviewMusic in my bloodMy fascination for music began when I was barely four years old Once my sister singer Palak performed in London and brought back gifts and chocolates for me I thought I would also get such goodies if I sang like her So I joined KalyanjiAnandjirsquos Little Stars group My guru is Anandji Shah and I have been a part of his world tour music projectsFamily supportI belong to Indore in Madhya Pradesh My family shifted to Mumbai a few years ago so that my sister and I could pursue a career in music Palak guides me in my work She sang for me in Dishkiyaoon It was an emotional moment for me We have a lot of fun at home as siblings but once we enter a music studio we like to keep it professional We always make it a point to catch the first show of our filmsMy role modelAR Rahman inspires me like no one else does I met him some time ago Since I am involved in Ashutosh Gowarikerrsquos next I hope to work with him I also look up to Madan Mohan Manna Dey ShankarEhsaanLoy Himesh Reshammiya SajidWajid and Sohail Sen As far as singers go I have many favourites mdash Lata Mangeshkar Asha Bhosle Sunidhi Chauhan Shreya Ghoshal Lucky Ali Atif Aslam Adnan Sami Aditi Singh Sharma Anmol Malik and my sister of course I find Arijit Singh very down to earth he never has a problem if I ask for retakes I also listen to Bryan Adams Van Halen and Michael JacksonChanging gearI had acted in a few ad commercials That is how Ashutosh Gowariker spotted me and signed me up for Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey as an actor Basically he liked my curly hair laughs He told my mother that I would grow up to be an actor but she said I would stick to music Eventually mom won When my song Tu Hi Hai Aashiqui Dishkiyaoon released my family got emotional My parentsrsquo eyes welled up while listening to it on the radio I got several compliments from fans in India Pakistan US and DubaiSerendipity strikesI had composed Party Toh Banti Hai for the promotion of a gymming product The gym owner happens to reside in the same building as Bhushan Kumar and made him listen to my song He liked it so much that he called me up and asked for that song for Bhootnath Returns The Meet Brothers were already on board Collaborating with them was a great experience It was all the more exciting as Amitabh Bachchan danced to the tunes During the success party of the film I met Amitabhji and asked for a photograph together He said ldquoLetrsquos take a selfierdquo It was overwhelming to say the leastBelying his ageAge doesnrsquot matter in this industry your work speaks for itself You would be amazed to know that the singers I have worked with be it Arijit Singh Mika Singh or Javed Ali call me lsquoSirrsquo during song recordings Had I been in their place I wouldnrsquot have taken a 19yearold seriously I feel lucky that people respect my work However there have been times when people have dismissed me because of my age But after listening to my songs they have signed me up for their projectsOn my plateI will be composing music for 18 films of which four to five are releasing this year I donrsquot bother about the banner or budget My aim is to give my 100 per cent to a project I am also doing Shilpa Shettyrsquos next film and handling all her projects She treats me like her brother My next release is Amit Sahni Ki List in July I have four songs in it two of them are romantic Raghu Dixit has composed the rest Other projects are Tere Aane Sey Miss Tanakpur Haazir Ho Dream Hopes and Bollywood Life Is Calling Ghoodu and Ashutosh Gowarikarrsquos three filmsCurrently I am learning DJing I believe it will help me in my career Right now I am following David Guettarsquos music and my room is adorned with his posters I wish to introduce his kind of music in IndiaBeing versatileI can play around 10 music instruments mdash guitar piano drums pianika harmonica tabla dholak congo bongo flute and violin But I like the guitar the most Holding one looks stylish tooJuggling studiesSince music keeps me busy studies he is doing his BCom in an Indore college take a backseat I cannot go to college so I study however little I can while travelling Thankfully my principal teachers and classmates have been very supportive they provide me online notes and course material But Irsquom not studious I scored 79 per cent in my class XII boardsChilling outDuring the weekends I watch films with my friends I also play cricket and football with them They suggested me that I introduce dubstep an electronic dance form of music in Bollywood and I have tried that in Amit Sahni Ki List They are also quite curious about my experiences in the industry and also want to start earning at a young ageResponsibilitiesThere is a great pool of talented singers in India but not everyone gets a platform to make it big I want to tap that potential I feel I have a responsibility towards them Everybody should have the opportunity to live their dream like I am doing now The key is to never give up