Mithoon: Director’s vibe is infectious

Mithoon is refreshingly invested in this conversation Unlike interviewees who are easily distracted during telephonic interactions the composer is attentive and eager to express when prodded on his working methods His razorsharp focus we assume would make him a terrible multitasker On the contrary Mithoon has been juggling a gamut of projects with panache ldquoBe honest to the momentrdquo he says when we ask him his secret In this conversation he reveals some moreEdited excerpts from the interviewGiven the number of projects yoursquore currently juggling what does a typical day for you look likeI have different elements that need my attention If Irsquom waiting on a melody I need isolation and must be disconnected from people That process can take several days But if Irsquom recording I can be part of multiple sessions at one time Because in this case we have written and arrived at the idea I know what has to be done But what is important is finding the right emotion for a song Having my own studio also makes things easier If I am honest to the moment I donrsquot need to carry the burden of tackling different genres For instance if Irsquom talking to you I am honest to this conversation Composition is like having a conversation with music Also a directorrsquos energy is infectious for a composer When I jam with Mohit Suri for Ek Villian his intensity reflects in the soundtrack For Anil Sharma the Gadar 2 soundtrack is a reflection of how epic he wanted it to be The directorcomposer equation is crucial LakshmikantPyarelal wouldnrsquot make for any other director the kind of music that they made for Subhash Ghai AR Rahman and Mani Ratnam also had a similar relationship I believe in that formula and respect itAlso Read Mithoon My music is valued because I value it firstOften there are actors who emerge to be bigger than the films they frontline and often it is the filmrsquos musical heritage that is the dominant factor Who do you cater toThe character When I was composing for Ji huzoor Shamshera I wasnrsquot thinking of Ranbir I was thinking of the character Balli And that inspiration came from director Karan Malhotra He spoke of how Balli walks talks and acts The character is bigger than the actorIf you have to identify the factors that have helped you succeed in Bollywood what would you say they areI donrsquot have a song bank I am always looking to understand what the director wants Also there are different raagas timestamps and key signatures There are different raagas for the day and I try to follow these rules because they were made for a reason For example if I talk of the bhairav raag itrsquos a raag associated with the morning It is scientifically connected to that time of the day In Satyam Shivam Sundaram the raag was suited for the morning in accordance with how it was shot Itrsquos an important science associated with the human physiology Also I always say that a song should be written without production I played Ji huzoor to Karan on the piano The song is actually a heavily produced one with 120 elementsAmong all the work that yoursquove recently done do you have a personal favouriteIrsquove never done something like Shamshera Meeting Karan was a lifechanging experience even at a personal level The joy and vibrancy that he brought into my studio was refreshing He would come in call for tea and spend an hour chatting with me I am a silent person But he was affecting me on a subconscious level His Shamshera character Balli is outspoken So Karan wanted me to be brash like Balli I enjoyed that experienceAlso Read Mithoon Creating music for Mercury an adventurous process