Meet Mithoon and his father Naresh Sharma, the Aashiqui men

Naresh Sharma whose single with Benny Dayal will release on Valentinersquos Day at his Versova home with son Mithoon PICPradeep DhivarNeither father Naresh Sharma nor his son Mithoon it seems enjoys the spotlight much It takes weeks of persuasion for the father and son to agree to a meeting at their Versova residence So then you can imagine the heartache we suffer when we only see Sharma Sr in the room Dont worry Mithoon is in a recording and will join us soon assures the 57yearold adding Even Ill be meeting him after a long timeBut their similarities dont simply end at their mediashynessWhile Naresh did the music arrangement for the 1990 blockbuster Aashiqui which sealed the success of composers NadeemShravan Mithoon catapulted the sequel Aashiqui 2 to fame with soulstirring compositions like Tum Hi Ho I still remember Gulshan Kumar NadeemShravan and Anuradha Paudwal coming over for sessions with my father says Mithoon who joins us within a couple of minutes of the conversation mdash the recording room is in the same house The 30yearold recalls a childhood spent around his father who has worked with leading composers of the era including NadeemShravan Jatin Pandit and Anu Malik But today he is excited that his father is set to rekindle his musical fervourAfter 18 years of lying low Naresh is making a comeback with a single in collaboration with singer Benny Dayal which will release on Valentines Day The last time you heard him was in 1999 when hed composed the background score for actor Rishi Kapoors directorial debut Aa Ab Laut Chalen starring Aishwarya Rai Akshaye Khanna and Rajesh KhannaThe Valentines Day release is called Hum Tum and is a peppy love duet with a newcomer from Assam Jutika Burman The music is something Naresh says he hasnt attempted in his 40yearlong career Theres another single in the pipeline as well Its a solo emotional ballad by called Sunvaii by Benny Dayal But he doesnt like to call it a comebackYou can never retire from music But the decision to take a rather long sabbatical was conscious because I wanted to keep up with times and connect with what the new generation wants So I kept observing the kind of music being made says Sharma who conducted his first orchestra at the age of 17 with brother Pyarelal of the LaxmikantPyarelal duoIn the intervening years Sharma had a lot to keep up with Back in my time performing with a 100 musicians was the norm With their help we would create a score that would add an extra dimension to the movie Using music to create tension or the sound of a quickening heartbeat to quicken the viewers heartbeats or even the use of silence to leave the audience in wonder and anticipationhellip there were so many nuances in it says Sharma who was instrumental in helping music arrangers get credits with the 1983 Rajiv Mehtra film Ek Jaan Hai Hum followed by Mard starring Amitabh Bachchan in 1985Its the nuances that he learnt from observing his fathers tracks that Mithoon says he tries to imbibe in his musicMy father worked during a period where the human side in composing was a lot more A song recording was a gettogether because there were so many people involved Now with the advent of technology its more mechanised says Mithoon who debuted as a music producer with Mohit Suris Zeher 2005 He was only 19 years old at the time and he followed it up with film albums like Anwar The Train and more recently Ek Villain Sanam Re and ShivaayInterestingly both like to work independently If theres one thing that I always tell Mithoon its that your song should be your voice an expression of your soul Your music has to be your opinion he says Which is why both believe that the music of Aashiqui 1 is not even remotely similar to the soundtrack of the sequel While both were romantic movies with the hero being a tortured artist the songs were melancholic but soulstirringDifferentiating between our styles is like making a difference between summer and winter Both are distinct and equally needed