Three and a half years. That is the window AR Rahman says he spent developing the music for Nitesh Tiwari’s Ramayana, the mythological epic starring Ranbir Kapoor as Ram, Sai Pallavi as Sita and Yash as Ravana.
Rahman called it the biggest film of his career, and the timeline backs that up. “This is the most exciting project I’ve ever worked on. I’ve never done such a big movie ever in my life,” he said, adding that the early response to the soundtrack has been encouraging.
The long road to the final score
Rahman said nearly 70 percent of the album is already available, with Jai Jai Ram among the released tracks. The remaining music, he hinted, is being held back deliberately. “We have some surprises coming up next,” he said.
The production footprint was global. Recording and scoring took place in London, Los Angeles and Abu Dhabi, and the closing stretch pulled Rahman between Los Angeles, London, Budapest, Mumbai and Chennai. The composer said sleep sometimes came in three- or four-hour stretches while the team chased the final version.
The iterative work was intense. Rahman said a cue could move through 13 different versions before the team returned to an earlier iteration. The process was exhausting, he admitted, but the final result made it worthwhile.
Two composers, one epic
The project also brought Rahman back together with Hans Zimmer, with whom he has shared a professional association since 2009. Rahman described the reunion as friendly and long-awaited. “He was very excited that finally we were working together,” Rahman recalled.
That collaboration sits inside a larger production challenge. The film is being finalised in multiple languages and versions, with visual effects still evolving. Rahman said he tried to be a partner in that process, not an obstacle, as the film moves through CG, language and edit changes.
Why the wait matters
A three-and-a-half-year scoring process tells fans that music is being treated as a core pillar of the film, not a last-minute layer. The rollout strategy underlines that. Here is what the team has signalled so far:
- Nearly 70 percent of the album is out, with more tracks teased.
- Sony is distributing across 70,000 screens, which Rahman called a first.
- The score was built across multiple countries, with international collaborators.
For Hindi film audiences, that means the soundtrack should be followed as a campaign. New songs may land as the release cycle builds, and the finished score will only be fully understood in the theatre.
Rahman’s one-word summary of the music: “Epic. Really epic.”
Source: bollywoodHungama.com