The chemistry is manifest in the music album the two of them have done together, Piya Basanti. This is one album whose sales figures are a sure reckoner of its popularity. Mr Shandilya gives us a background of the project. "The proposal was a unanimous one. We all wanted to work together.

Ustad Sultan Khan had sung Albela sajan for the film, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, which was a huge hit. I guess that is what prompted Sony Music to sign him on. And I know the Ustad closely, having been his disciple for the last six or seven years. I learn vocal classical music from him."

Mr Shandilya is also impressed by the singing prowess of Chitra, who has done the female vocals in Piya Basanti. Through its lead singers, the album conveys a coming together of the north and the south. "Actually, it doesn't matter where Chitra lives, Mumbai or Chennai, she lives in our hearts," he laughs.

Indeed, her thin voice, which sounds like bells tinkling, has been used effectively as a contrast to the heavy, husky tone of Ustad Sultan Khan. "There is a definite purpose behind that. We wanted to say there are many dimensions to love. On the one hand, you have the fresh flush of first love; and that youthful, impulsive feeling is personified by Chitra. But the Ustad conveys a deep, quiet understanding of love. His voice symbolises the serenity of one who has found contentment after having experienced life's hardships. See, a couple may talk to each other about love, but they don't have to be talking about each other! They could be sharing experiences," Mr Shandilya explains.

Success is slowly having an effect on the music director's life, but its trappings are nowhere in evidence. He had composed Pyar Ke Geet for Shubha Mudgal some time ago, and for a composer of pop albums to have two successes in a year is almost an achievement. Yet, ask him how happy he is, and he smiles with that look of nirvana on his face. "Happy, but not satisfied. How would it do for a creative person to be satisfied with his work?"

It is difficult to imagine Mr Shandilya as the aggressive youngster he claims he once was, someone fond of socialising with friends and an avid lover of outdoor sports. But like he says, he severed the umbilical cord when he came over to Mumbai to make a career. "If you keep in touch, people are curious to know what you are doing with your life in the city of dreams.

And unless you have something worth talking about, the questions can hurt," he explains.

He studied music at the Shriram Bhartiya Kala Kendra in New Delhi for a couple of years before he moved to Mumbai in 1990. Here, Mr Shandilya started off as an assistant to noted arranger Surinder Singh Sodhi and did films like Mashooq and Elaan with him. Seven years later, he began work on his own. He earned a break as independent music director with Udit Narayan's I Love You, an album brought out by Wings Music. "This was Udit Narayan's first pop album, and I was lucky to be able to work with him that early in my career," says Mr Shandilya. Then, his Dholna song from Rajshri's album Pyar Ke Geet became popular. That's probably when he `arrived' on the music scene.

But the composer will not dwell on his track record, and prefers to inform you that he has a couple of big film assignments on hand, all of which will be complete by Diwali next year. "The sound will be rather new, not what I have done before. It is one's aim to avoid getting stereotyped," he says.

For that reason, he does not have an array of pop albums lined up.