The music for Mujhse Dosti Karoge is "young and fresh". "It's (the film) about urban young people, so the music had to be romantic and soft," adds Sharma. "The music arrangement is very much Indian, but the feel is very western. There are combination of songs, a few romantic numbers and also an item number." To add that slight classical touch to the compositions, he has used the santoor and flute in a few pieces, as well as a proper orchestra with 60 violinists playing at the same time.

"It's much more challenging composing for a live orchestra. If even one musician plays out of tune, or something goes wrong, the song has to be recorded all over again," points out Sharma. "When my father was composing all those years ago, he used quite of bit of live instruments. Now, everything is programmed. Even I have used electronic music in the film, simply because its' sound quality is much more superior."

Despite the technical differences, the training he has had under Pandit Sharma, Pandit Chaurasia and Yash Chopra, especially when he sat with them during their music sessions, has helped him now, as a composer. "I learnt how songs are recorded, how singers are trained, how the whole system works," he says. "In fact, I composed a few songs for Lamhe. I would play it out for my dad, and if he liked it, we would take it to Yashji."

Sharma is planning to be a more permanent fixture in Bollywood, unlike his father, whose last film as a composer was Darr. He has already received several offers, though he hasn't taken on any new project. "I want to do two or three quality films a year. I would love to work with Subhash Ghai and Karan Johar, simply because they understand music, and it plays such an important role in their kind of cinema," he says.

This doesn't mean that santoor has taken a backseat. Even now, he travels quite a bit on concerts. "I like the impromptu nature of Indian classical music. However much you rehearse, on stage you have to be spontaneous and react to the situation. You have a certain framework, within which there can be several permutations and combinations," he reveals.

"Each time you a play a raga, it sounds different."

Sharma feels he can use films to introduce classical instruments to the younger audience. "Like I hope to popularise santoor through the music of Mujhse Dosti Karoge. It will help me attract younger generation listeners to my concerts, and to classical instruments in general," he believes, "because they are more open to instrumental music."

Besides films, he is also experimenting with fusion, which involves merging western and eastern sounds. His next album, Zen, has him playing the santoor, while Kesri Lord is on the electronic keyboard. For this album, he has used the Iranian santoor, which has a completely different tonal quality from the regular Indian one.

One of the biggest concerns with Sharma is to find ways and means to attract the yuppie crowd to his kind of music. "The problem is that people believe they have to be trained to understand classical music, even if it's instrumental. It's not true," he asserts. "You should just allow the music to touch you. The sound of a santoor or flute, or any other instrument, grows on you gradually."

Just as it grew on him. But music, and not just the santoor, was a legacy from his father, which he could not ignore for too long. "Nothing besides music interests me too much," he laughs.