Composer AR Rahman recently spoke about his early experience working on director Nitesh Tiwari's adaptation of Ramayana. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter India, Rahman said that working on Ramayana: Part 1 has not been an easy experience for both him and his co-composer Hans Zimmer. The legendary composer put it down to the sheer magnitude of the project itself. "It is terrifying for both of us, scoring something so iconic and important in the world," he said about the project.
Rahman said that Zimmer created a soundscape for the first part of Tiwari's film and that he added "Sanskrit words and everything" to it. According to Rahman, the reason why the project is challenging for him and Zimmer is the familiarity that Indians generally have with the mythological epic. "What is complicated is that we are taking something which is so epic and which every Indian knows, and we have to give them something new," Rahman said. "We have to give it to the world, from India to the world," he added.
According to AR Rahman, the key to cracking the project is unlearning certain things, more specially what comes instinctively to him and what is commonly perceived to be how his style of music should be like. The composer revealed that taking that into consideration led to him and Zimmer imbibing a particular sense of timelessness that is culturally rooted to the film's music. "The process is still happening," the Oscar-winning composer added.
As reported earlier, Ramayana: Part 1 has a star-studded ensemble cast, including Ranbir Kapoor as Ram, Sai Pallavi as Sita, and Yash as Ravan. The first in a series of two films will hit theatres, including IMAX screens, in time for Diwali this year. The second part is slated for a Diwali 2027 release.
