Sandeep's hate song for Sherawat

Sandeep Chowta, known for bringing in a different style of music to films, has gone ahead and done something quite extraordinary — he's composed a song, 'Mallika I hate you', for sex-bomb Mallika Sherawat.

How did this unusual composition come about? Says Chowta, "Every desirable woman is also much hated — especially for her inaccessibility.

This song is a single and not part of an album, and we will sell it as such. If a single song can break through barriers, nobody will need to go through an entire album.

The song will be path-breaking in terms of marketing and promotion. I can't tell you much — only that in the next two weeks, everything will be revealed." Chowta and Sonu Kakkad have sung the song, with lyrics written by Vipin Kakkad.

Does he hate Mallika Sherawat? He smiles, "I don't know Mallika Sherawat personally. It could be about an unknown Mallika…."

Who's his girl?

The interesting thing is that bachelor Chowta, who has been linked with most actresses, is in love. According to him, "All questions about who I am going around with will be answered when the entire song is released."

So that means he isn't single now? "No." Is she an actress? "I am not saying anything," says Sandeep. "You will get to hear about her in my song."

Chowta has also been busy composing for other albums. He says, "I was deliberately keeping a low profile, because I didn't have much to say. Last year, I had composed for the Telugu film Super, which turned out to be a super hit.

Now I have just finished composing for a new album, American Pilgrimage, with Sanjay Chitale, the main lead vocalist. It's essentially jazz and semi-classical in composition." He is also composing the main song for the Indian Idol winner."

The music director has shifted base to Mumbai from Chennai, after his beach bungalow was washed away in the 2005 tsunami. Has he moved beyond that? "Yes, life goes on.

Now I have got my bearings. I have decided to shift base completely to Mumbai and become a pucca Mumbaiite. I don't think I will ever build a bungalow again on the beaches of Chennai. Luckily, I wasn't there, but it's got too many bad memories and every time there are rumours of an earthquake, it gets scary."

Turning director

He was planning to produce and direct a film with good friend Nagarjuna. "Yes, but that didn't happen for various reasons. It was a thriller without songs and many people told me my first film should be a musical. Now that it's been three years and I have thought about it — my first film will be a musical."