National Award-winning singer-composer GV Prakash Kumar will be the voice of Raavan in Nitesh Tiwari’s Ramayana, singing the track for Yash’s portrayal of the epic’s most layered antagonist. The announcement adds a new musical layer to a project already carrying high expectations. In a statement, he explained how the opportunity arrived, what the composition demanded, and why he wants it to be heard in a theatre.
One call from AR Rahman
Prakash Kumar said the journey began soon after he returned from Ayodhya, where he had been promoting Nayyi Naveli. Composer AR Rahman called and asked him to sing the song for Raavan. He said being part of a film that brings this timeless epic to the big screen on such an extraordinary scale is an absolute privilege.
A voice for a layered character
Raavan, he explained, is not a one-note villain. The epic’s antagonist is immensely powerful and exceptionally knowledgeable, and the music had to reflect that complexity. He tied the work to the Dussehra season, when the triumph of good over evil is celebrated, but the story’s characters are far more layered than a single interpretation.
For Prakash Kumar, the challenge went beyond hitting the notes. The composition required him to inhabit Raavan’s world, not simply perform a song.
- The trigger: A call from AR Rahman, soon after GV Prakash returned from Ayodhya.
- The brief: Represent Raavan’s power, intelligence and intensity, not just the notes.
- The setting: A composition he says has ‘a certain scale’ and ‘an almost elemental energy.’
Why the theatre matters
Prakash Kumar praised Rahman’s ‘extraordinary musical vision’ and said the soundscape of Ramayana is being imagined on a ‘magnificent canvas.’ He said the challenge as a singer is to become part of that world and make the character feel larger than life.
The film brings together Ranbir Kapoor, Sai Pallavi, Yash and what he called an exceptional ensemble. The singer said he wants audiences to experience the song on the big screen, where its scale, sound and intensity belong. His request to listeners is to skip preconceived notions and let the music carry them into Raavan’s world.
In large-scale mythological films, a character track often works as an introduction and a promise of the world to come. Here, the Raavan song is being framed as a cinematic moment rather than a standalone single. That may be why Prakash Kumar keeps returning to scale, sound and intensity, and why he is asking fans to wait for the theatre.
With the statement landing around Dussehra, the Raavan track becomes another musical piece in a film Hindi cinema fans are already tracking closely.
Source: Bollywood Hungama