A Song Of Separation

By Rinky Kumar, *Musical moments* - Screen - India
Friday, July 16, 2010

Mithoon is back on the block after three years with his soul-stirring numbers

Three years after he composed the music for Ananth Mahadevan’s Aggar, Mithoon is back on the block with his score in Lamhaa. A blend of traditional Kashmiri music and Sufi poetry, the songs have been rendered by an eclectic mix of singers comprising Mika, Palash Sen, Chinmayi, Kshitij Tarey and Mithoon himself.

The composer-singer admits that the film’s score is special for him. “Lamhaa is a very powerful story. It took me almost a year to do research and compose the music. So every song is close to me,” he says.

When director Rahul Dholakia approached Mithoon, his brief was simple: “Lamhaa is a film for Kashmiris from their point of view. The director wanted the music to reflect this, so it had to be an honest score that captured the emotions of the characters and portrayed the truth in a poetic manner,” adds Mithoon.

Mithoon travelled to the valley and researched the history of Kashmiri music. “Kashmir has a rich musical heritage that has been least exploited. They have a melody for each occasion. There’s a local song that is sung during carpet-weaving that utilises beats synchronised with the carpet’s design.” Though he did not use this particular beat in the film, he incorporated several other elements of the culture to make the songs sound authentic.

For Salaam zindagi, Mithoon got Kashmiri kids to record a minute-long prelude of their rendition of the local morning prayer. “Dholakia wanted to capture the early morning scene in a Kashmiri village. We decided to record with the kids to give out a positive message,” he reveals.

The young composer combined the Sufi genre with the Kashmiri culture to provide multiple layers to every song. “When you first listen to Madno, you might think it’s a love song. But in reality, it’s a song of separation where two people who like each other express their feelings but also confess that they can’t be together due to the circumstances.”

For this song, Mithoon chose Kshitij Tarey, who had earlier sung his Jaaveda zindagi (Anwar) and Chinmayi of Tere bina for A.R. Rahman’s Guru. “The song has a lot of Urdu words. Kshitij is not trained but has a polished voice. He has good command over Urdu diction and lent a certain vibe and technique to the song. Chinmayi has a done a lot of work down South. I heard a snippet of her Tamil song and liked her voice instantly. Madno demanded a female voice with a lot of pathos and her voice had that melancholy.”

Mithoon also decided to use Mika for Madno’s reprise titled Saajnaa. This is the first time Mika has sung a slow, emotional number. “Mika is known for his dance tracks. But whenever I heard him, I would feel that he has a raw voice. I had a vision that whenever he sings for me, it will be with a complete different expression. I called him and discussed this and he was quite enthusiastic. He has mellowed down his voice completely,” he explains.

Similarly, Mithoon roped in Palash Sen of Euphoria to render Main kaun hoon, which depicts the pivotal question of identity with which every Kashmiri is grappling. “I have heard Palash’s songs when I was in school. He has an excellent, resilient voice. I used him as the song starts off on a dark note and gradually builds up.”

Mithoon, who is also composing the music for Onir’s I AM, has also sung Rehmat zara in Lamhaa. But he confesses that rather than his singing, he would like to focus on his music. This is probably the reason that in a career span of four years, Mithoon has composed the music for only four films - Bas Ek Pal (2006), Anwar, The Train and Aggar (all 2007) and came up with his album Tu Hi Mere Rab Ki Tarah.

Says Mithoon, “After Bas Ek Pal, I was flooded with offers. But I wanted to disconnect as I was getting stuck in a creative rut. So I took time off to focus on my music. I travelled to different parts of the country, did research, listened to different kinds of songs and then composed the music for one film at a time,” he signs off.