Music director Jatin Pandit who had split amicably with his partner Lalit and taken to composing solo says he would like to revive the partnership and once again recreate the magic of evergreen numbers like Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and Fanna.

Putting rumours to rest, music director Jatin says the news of his patch up with long time partner Lalit is not true. However, he adds that he wants to work with him again.

"These all are rumours. I want to work with him again but nothing has been worked out yet. Actually actress Urmila Matondkar wanted both of us to come together at a music reality show.

People thought we reunited. But it is not true. I pray to God to give him more good work than I, " says the senior partner Lalit of the popular duo Jatin-Lalit.

Declining to comment on the reasons of separation, he says, "Once we have mutually decided to separate. I don't want to comment on the reasons. But now I want him to join me again."

Once most sought after music directors of the Hindi film industry, the two after working for almost 16 years separated for some unknown reasons. Many songs by the duo like Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (DDLJ), Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (KKHH), Kabhi Kushi Kabhie Gham (K3G), Khamoshi and Fanna, have become popular.

"Working with Lalit was great. We never compromised on the melody part of the song in spite of pressure from producers on many occasions.

Lalit and I always used to meet producers together but now as we have separated and the work got divided. I am ready to create the same magic again with him, " says Lalit, whose soundtrack of DDLJ was judged the top Hindi sound track of all time by on-line voters on the BBC Asian Network.

Jatin is currently working on Planman Life's Production titled 'I AM 24', starring Neha Dhupia and Rajat Kapoor and directed by Saurav Shukla. But is it not true that the number of films have minimised after the break up with Lalit?

"Yes But we are still capable of giving some great numbers if we come together, says Jatin, who has composed music for a Bhojpuri film recently."

"I am composing songs for a film made on a novel written by Bankimchandra Chattopadhyay. The song will be melody based, " says Jatin.

Known for his melody, especially with lyricists Javed Akhtar and Anand Bakshi, Jatin is of the belief that the era of soulful melody is in its last stage.

"You will hardly find melody in recent films. Even in unconventional songs like 'Ae kya bolti tu' of Ghulam, we tried to give soulful music." So are there any favourites among the recent crops of music directors?

"Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy is good. I like Pritam also because of Bengali touch in his music. Rest of all just concentrate on beats."

Jatin, who is all set to give opportunities to upcoming talent through the television medium, says, "There is so much talent around. We need to conserve and train them. I think music reality shows are the best way to bring them to centrestage."

When asked about the controversies related to reality shows backstage, he says, "Loopholes are everywhere. There are more positives than negatives. These champions have the ability to sing for films if they continuously do 'riyaaz' (practice)."

Pointing out that the magical era of Kishore Kumar, Mohammed Rafi and Mukesh would never be recreated, he says, "In those days, there was the concept of team work between music director, lyricists, actor and director. But now the work is separated. We gave ten superhits with Shahrukh Khan."

"We still have singers like Lataji but where are the heroines who can portray the sense of the song with the same passion and grace as Aasha Parikh or Waheeda Rehmaan used to do."

So whom does he presently rate as the number one singer in India? "No discussion required for that. It is Sonu Nigam. Others like Shaan, Udit Narayan are also doing a good job."