AR Rahman teams up with Hans Zimmer for 'Ramayana'

Ramayana will bring together two powerhouse talents from the world of music — Hans Zimmer and AR Rahman — and the Indian maestro says they will deliver a background score that will be different yet culturally resonant.

The two musicians are hard at work for the score of Ramayana, a live-action adaptation of the epic from filmmaker Nitesh Tiwari.

Namit Malhotra of Prime Focus Studios is producing the film, which will feature Ranbir Kapoor as Lord Ram, Sai Pallavi as Goddess Sita, and Yash as Ravana.

“Hans Zimmer is a prolific composer, who has done great things. I have known him since 2009 and he had great things to share with me. I’ve great respect for him. He invited me before to score but I couldn’t as I was doing other things,” Rahman said.

Zimmer, a two-time Academy Award winner, has composed some of Hollywood’s most iconic soundtracks, including those for The Lion King, Gladiator, Pirates of the Caribbean, Inception, Interstellar, The Dark Knight Rises and Dune.

With Ramayana, Rahman said both him and Zimmer have tried to create music that is unique and will resonate with the global audience.

“Ramayana is part of our culture, and the music …I’ve studied in Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan and every year there would be Ramyana or Mahabharat or Shakuntala kind of plays (happening there). So, the culture is within me.

“For this, we had to be different from all the other scores which have come before because it is for a world audience. When you look at the trailer music, it shows what we’re trying to do. We will hopefully (be) particular about cultural relevance, but we are careful about it,” the musician said.