/> The young composer Mithoon is riding a new high. He has just composed the entire score for a Malaysian film.

Says Mithoon "It's a film produced by a Malaysian satellite company. And the film is called Diva. And I've recorded five songs in the Malaysian language and recorded the entire background score."

Though Mithoon didn't understand the language he spent a lot of time with the director. "I can't say it was easy. A year back the producers were hunting for an Indian composer. I was quite new at that time.

Fortunately they weren't looking for a big name. They agreed to hear my music. And they liked my stuff. I was in Kuala Lampur to work with the astonishing singer Ning Baizura. She has sung all the tracks."

But how did he manage to record a whole soundtrack in a language he didn't understand? "The lyricist was very co-operative. He'd give me the Malaysian words and I'd write them down in Hindi.

Fortunately Hindi and Malaya are sometimes similar, both originating from Sanskrit....I think I'm the only Indian composer to have composed in Malaya."

Though he enjoyed working with the Malaysian singer Mithoon is equally proud of Mumbai's playback singers. "I think today's singers are able to do justice to my tunes.

When Roop Kumar Rathod sang Maula mere for me in Anwar I didn't for one second feel he had missed out on any of the nuances. So yes, I feel today's singers give me as much as the singers of yesteryears did to my seniors."