AR Rahman: Ramayana score 70% out, his biggest film

AR Rahman has spent nearly three and a half years on the music of Nitesh Tiwari’s Ramayana – and he says the mythological epic is unlike anything else in his career.

The Oscar-winning composer described the film as his most exciting and biggest project yet. Speaking about the score, he said the long development window now feels rewarding because audiences are finally hearing the music.

70% of the album is already out

The first track, “Jai Jai Ram”, is live, and Rahman estimates around 70 percent of the album has been released. He described the moment as “a good time now” after nearly three and a half years of work.

“We have some surprises coming up next.”

A long-awaited Hans Zimmer collaboration

Ramayana also brings Rahman together with Hans Zimmer on a full score. Their connection goes back to 2009, and Zimmer invited Rahman to perform at the Oscars in 2012.

Rahman said that when he returned to Zimmer’s studio for Ramayana, the mood was warm. Their sessions moved through London, Los Angeles and Abu Dhabi, and sometimes required extreme patience.

“Sometimes we had to go through 13 different iterations to come back to the second or the first iteration,” Rahman explained.

He called the process exhausting but rewarding.

What we know so far

• Work on the music took nearly three and a half years.
• About 70% of the album is out, led by “Jai Jai Ram”.
• Rahman and Zimmer recorded across London, Los Angeles and Abu Dhabi.
• The film is scheduled for a worldwide theatrical release on November 5, 2026.

A visually massive canvas

Rahman was also impressed by the visual effects being handled by DNEG. He recently watched the first two reels and said, “I was blown away.”

The final three months were intense, with constant travel between Los Angeles, London, Budapest, Mumbai and Chennai. Some stretches left the team with only three or four hours of sleep. Still, Rahman framed the effort as a point of pride: taking Indian culture to international audiences.

He pointed to the scale of the release as another milestone. “I’m really proud of the fact that this is probably the biggest movie I’ve ever done in my career… I’m really proud that we are able to take a culture from this land to present to the world where Sony is distributing 70,000 screens for the first time,” he said.

The cast includes Ranbir Kapoor as Lord Rama, Sai Pallavi as Sita, Yash as Ravana, Ravi Dubey as Lakshman and Sunny Deol as Hanuman. The wider ensemble features Arun Govil, Lara Dutta, Rakul Preet Singh, Sheeba Chaddha and Adinath Kothare.

For Rahman fans, the key point is simple: the score is nearly here, and the composer believes it is the biggest canvas of his career.

Source: The Times of India