Ramayana: Music titans AR Rahman and Hans Zimmer team up for a musical odyssey | Bollywood News
It is a moment of creative confluence that one never imagined could ex. The East and West are meeting with gusto as Academy Award-winning composer AR Rahman has joined forces with Hans Zimmer – Germany-born legendary composer known for seminal work in films such as The Lion King (1994), The Dark Knight (2008), Inception (2010), Interstellar (2014) and more recently two-part Dune (2021 and 2024) – for the upcoming Ranbir Kapoor, Yash and Sai Pallavi starrer Ramayana, which is touted to be India’s costliest film, with a staggering Rs 835 crore budget.
Directed Nitesh Tiwari, the film, based on an age-old tale written rishi Valmiki circa 7th century, will release on Diwali 2026, while the second part will come out a year later.
Watch | Ramayana Teaser: Ranbir Kapoor’s first look as Ram, Yash as Ravan in mythological epic; credits are a reminder of Game of Thrones
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The audience got a first glimpse of the film on July 3. If the vast and immersive strings and operatic vocals paired with bells, the drone of the tanpuras and a Hindi ditty layered on it all are anything to go , then the soundtrack could be a sonic milestone.
A selfie posted AR Rahman with Hans Zimmer — likely from Los Angeles, where both composers have residences as well as music studios — initiated a lot of anticipation among people. Interestingly, Zimmer’s presence in the film is expected to draw the West to the Indian epic tale that is largely unknown to them.
With @HansZimmer #RamayanaMovie pic.twitter.com/TB8Uyhbu7u
— A.R.Rahman (@arrahman) July 4, 2025
Rahman, who is familiar with Indian music as well as western, is likely to be a great conduit in bringing this collaboration together. “It’s a moment of disbelief… My aspiration is, with pride, how do we take our greatest culture, the greatest part of our hory and share it with the world,” said producer Namit Malhotra at a promotional event for the movie on Thursday.
It will also be interesting to see how the two composers will bring their dinct and very individualic sounds to the table. Blending it could be tricky, but it can become a world-class cinematic event if the two mavericks manage to get on the same page for the most expensive film India has ever made.
