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A. R. Rahman on 'Ramayana' Score and Hans Zimmer: 'The Beginnings Have Been Beautiful'
Composer A.R. Rahman on working with Hans Zimmer to create the music of 'Ramayana,' and his take on the hotly-debated use of AI in the creative space
There has been much excitement ever since it was announced that the upcoming epic film adaptation of the Ramayana would bring about a musical collaboration for the ages: Academy Award-winning composers A.R. Rahman and Hans Zimmer joining hands together for the first time.
A recent thrilling three-minute video asset introduced the world-building of the epic and teased its star cast, giving glimpses of Ranbir Kapoor as Rama and KGF star Yash as Ravana. The announcement video teased the "war that began to end all wars" as the score by both the legendary composers set the riveting tone of the video.
“I obviously can’t tell you too much about it…,” grins Rahman while talking to The Hollywood Reporter India, adding, “But you got a taste of our collaboration in the teaser.”
“It’s one of the most exciting projects I’ve ever personally taken on, and we are still continually working on it. We are very proud of how it’s shaping out to be, both musically and culturally. Hans is a very busy man — and our producer is racking his brains trying to figure out how to coordinate all our schedules! Getting us all together at the same time, much less the same place, is no mean feat,” he laughs.
“But the beginnings to Ramayana have been very beautiful and memorable so far,” Rahman mused.
Ramayana, filmed for IMAX, is directed by Nitesh Tiwari (of Dangal fame) and produced by Namit Malhotra’s Prime Focus Studios and 8-time Oscar-winning VFX studio DNEG in association with Yash’s Monster Mind Creations. The film also stars Sai Pallavi as Sita, Ravie Dubey as Lakshman and Sunny Deol as Hanuman. Ramayana is written by Shridhar Raghavan. Ramayana: Part 1 will release worldwide on Diwali 2026, followed by Part 2 on Diwali 202.
Recently, Rahman also met OpenAI CEO Sam Altman to discuss his upcoming virtual global band project Secret Mountain. In February last year, the composer dropped a video on his YouTube channel, introducing the world of Secret Mountain. He shared that he had a fruitful meeting with Altman as the two brainstormed on the immersive AI project, as he dropped a selfie on his Instagram page. "It was a pleasure to meet @sama at his office …we discussed “Secret Mountain”, our virtual global band, and to empower and uplift Indian minds to use AI tools to address generational challenges and lead the way forward," Rahman captioned the image.
Discussing his take on the use of AI as a tool to empower creativity, Rahman tells us, “I use it quite often, a lot mainly to generate visuals, as placeholders for musical video ideas when I’m composing. Similarly, it helps me research stuff quickly instead of having to go to a library or spend hours online. I look at the positive side of it; kids these days get to use and learn with tools I never had earlier. Like, take children who have a lot of imagination, but maybe don’t necessarily have the creative chops to paint and bring their vision to life. AI helps them create beautiful images with the ideas in their mind. But of course, there’s a downside to it too, when it involves people losing their jobs or when plagiarising is involved.”
He adds, “It really depends on the way you take it into your stride; but like it or not, it is here to stay, both the good and bad sides to it. So we have learn how to survive any challenge it poses to us too!"