After recording for Mani Ratnam's Thalapathi in Mumbai, my father came home to Chennai by the evening flight and immediately played me all the songs in the film. Then he asked me my opinion of the music. I was in school then. That tells you the kind of guy he was.

But then my dad and I are almost like friends. We are like two musicians having a chat. We talk about everything but music is a common passion, a common bond. Perhaps that's why of his three children I am his favourite. If my mother wants something done, she asks me to get dad to do it.

I suppose the closeness helps me sense dad's feelings. Dad wants to explore music in a deeper sense. I know that he feels restricted here in India. His ability and his talent are restricted to people running around the trees, fighting the villain, and getting married. The directors who come to him don't know what he is about. "Sir, could you give us a teasing song? We want a dance number." That is not music. That is just commercial business, which dad labels as 'plastic music'. Use-and-throw stuff!

Music should not be like that. Everybody still listens to S D Burman's music and R D Burman's music. Dad's music is also like that. It's the movies that ruin everything. If the movies are bad, the music also gets wasted. That's a shame, because dad gives each project his all. I know because I have worked with him in almost 200 movies. He is amazing, he brings life to the movie through his music. I feel that there is some deep connection between his music and the movie he's working on. He underscores the important parts of the movie, by creating music that is integral to the movie. That is like magic, actually. Dad puts the soul into most of the movies. And he cuts off lag. To cut the lag in a movie is a great talent.

As a composer, I can detect his influence in my work. I consciously apply the same principles to, say, cutting out lag. And in a broader sense, I have adopted his work ethic. But I want to chart my own course as a musician. I don't want to follow my dad's style-that's for sure. Because everyone else here is following his style. You can hear dad's influence everywhere, even in Hindi films.

I am still learning, still groping for a sound that is all mine. I haven't yet defined it. I have ideas about it. I want to bring it out in the right project.

People often compare me to him. I have had this problem since I began my career. He is a guru to most music directors. He introduced western classical and jazz harmony into film music. I often wonder what he is going to do next. His reputation is huge. I will overcome it, but it'll take time.

Dad is not opposed to my approach or to my attitude of charting out a course all my own. He and my mum have always given me freedom to do what I want. They gave me the opportunity to choose whatever career I wanted. And I chose music. Dad did ask me then, "Why music?" And I said, "Because I like it."

People expect me to be the same as my dad, which is something I can't understand. If I can complete a full song in two hours, why should I work from 7 am to 9 pm? That's how dad works. People complain that I am not like him. At the same time, if I do a joint project with dad, they complain that I am so much like him. So, after much thought, I decided that I would rather be myself. What's wrong with that?