Thursday, 5 November 2026, 07:35
The film brings together Ranbir Kapoor and Yash in the first of two planned films, while Amazon Music and T-Series are backing the soundtrack’s release and promotion.
Producer Namit Malhotra says he decided to adapt the Indian epic on this scale only after the necessary talent, experience and filmmaking resources were in place. Directed by Nitesh Tiwari, whose films include “Dangal” and “Chhichhore,” “Ramayana Part 1” stars Ranbir Kapoor as Rama, the prince sent into exile. Sai Pallavi plays his wife, Sita, who is abducted by Yash as Ravana, the king of Lanka. The film is the first of two, and its score is the first collaboration on an Indian film between A.R. Rahman and Hans Zimmer. T-Series is the music label; Amazon Music is the streaming partner.
Malhotra is founder and CEO of visual effects company DNEG, which has won eight Oscars, most recently for “Dune: Part Two.” DNEG and sister company ReDefine are handling the visual effects for “Ramayana,” which Malhotra’s Prime Focus Studios is producing with Yash’s Monster Mind Creations.
“We have contributed to some of the biggest films in the world, and I felt, why shouldn’t we bring that same ambition to ‘Ramayana’? Of course, that comes with a tremendous responsibility because of what Lord Ram means to so many people,”
Malhotra told Variety that a global audience should come second to remaining faithful to the“Ramayana” still resonates thousands of years later. Malhotra said the production brought artists from around the world together in the hope that Indian audiences would feel proud and first-time viewers would understand why the story is special to India
Tiwari said he wanted to bring viewers closer to a familiar story through intimate performances as well as cinematic scale. He focused on relationships, difficult choices and the emotions behind key moments, with the aim of making audiences feel connected to the characters. He said that knowing the outcome need not diminish the emotion: discoveries can come from a character’s reaction, an exchange or the weight of a decision.
Tiwari said his earlier films had shown him how strongly audiences respond to truthful portrayals of relationships, such as a small gesture between a parent and child or a moment between friends. Although “Ramayana” involves a much larger scale and considerable cultural responsibility, he said, he still asks whether scenes feel honest and whether viewers care about the people in them.
“When I thought about who could bring that vision to life, it was A.R. Rahman and Hans Zimmer. There was no plan B,”
Music was central to Malhotra’s plan from the start. The score was recorded with an orchestra at AIR Studios in London. Watching Indian and Western musicians work together, he said, made him feel the music could carry the emotion of “Ramayana” to people everywhere.
The film’s first song, “Jai Jai Ram,” was released on Sept. 14 to coincide with the Ganesh Chaturthi festival. Malhotra said each track has its own release window and that seeing audiences embrace the first song was rewarding. He hopes the songs and events around the album reach people worldwide and become memorable experiences in their own right.
Tiwari said he works with the producers and the music and marketing teams on how songs are introduced, considering what each one reveals, which visuals accompany it and what should be saved for the cinema. He said music should serve the scene’s emotional purpose, and that a restrained passage or silence can sometimes be more affecting than a powerful musical expression.
Looking ahead to the second film, Malhotra said the first needs to give audiences an experience that stays with them, with their connection to the characters a key reason to return. He hopes the music will maintain that connection between installments, so viewers return to a world they already feel close to.
The soundtrack is part of Amazon Music’s push into Indian film music. Indian-language music accounts for around 70% of what the service’s customers in India stream. For more than two years, Amazon Music has been building standalone launches for major film albums, both live and on its platform. Its past events include a Mumbai performance for “Dhurandhar” with Hanumankind, Madhubanti Bagchi and Jasmine Sandlas, an album launch for “Border 2” at the INS Kadamba naval base in Karwar, and events for “Param Sundari” and “Tere Ishk Mein.” Songs from “Dhurandhar” remained in the service’s 50 Most Played chart long after the event.
“Amazon Music is becoming the destination where India’s biggest film albums break,”
Gupta, Amazon Music India’s general manager, said streaming services are becoming collaborators in culture, not just places where music is hosted, and called “Ramayana” the biggest example of that so far. On Oct. 21, Amazon Music held a celebration at the Chennai Trade Centre, where Rahman performed songs from the film with Kapoor, Pallavi and Yash onstage. The service is also releasing a short-form series on Instagram and YouTube, including “Decoding Ramayana with A.R. Rahman,” and has created an album destination and four playlists named for characters from the epic. Amazon Music operates in more than 50 countries, and the songs go live abroad at the same time as in India.
Gupta said listening data can show which songs are resonating and with whom, while decisions about what to release and when remain with the filmmakers and T-Series. He called the music a film’s first trailer and said a song people love can invite them to the theater.
T-Series’ Bhushan Kumar described the album as more than a conventional film soundtrack, saying it carries the legacy of a revered Indian epic to audiences around the world. He said the collaboration between Rahman and Zimmer aims to honor the story’s Indian roots while creating a musical experience for contemporary and international audiences. Kumar added that the partnership with Amazon Music would support discovery and connect the soundtrack with listeners across markets.
Amazon Music measures partnerships by engagement over time, Gupta said, including whether listeners return to an album after its release and whether it leads them to music they had not played before. For “Ramayana,” he said, success would mean the songs continued to be played after the film left theaters – at festivals, in family routines and as an introduction to Indian music for listeners around the world.
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