Yash says he learnt Tamil because of AR Rahman's songs. Speaking at the Chennai event for Ramayana on October 21, with Rahman, Sai Pallavi and Ranbir Kapoor on stage, Yash said, "I learnt Tamil because of his songs. I used to dance to songs from Gentleman." He also praised Rahman's contribution to Tamil cinema.
Rahman's 2014 email
Rahman read out an email from 2014, sent by a man named Sathish. Sathish had dreamt of Rahman presenting the Ramayana through music shows across India and the world.
The five-track EP
The same day, T-Series released a five-track EP from the film, with music by Hans Zimmer and Rahman and lyrics by Kumar Vishwas. The tracks are "Jai Jai Ram", sung by Rahman, Shreya Ghoshal and Arijit Singh; "Ravana Tandav", sung by Vishal Dadlani; "Sita's Aspiration"; an orchestral version of "Jai Jai Ram"; and "Rama Theme".
The Malayalam version of "Ravana Tandav" came out separately, with lyrics by Vinayak Sasikumar, as we covered in our Ravana Tandavam story.
Rahman's Malayalam roots
Rahman's link with Malayalam cinema runs through his father, R K Shekhar, a composer who scored about 52 films, mostly in Malayalam. His debut was Pazhassi Raja (1964), which had the song "Chotta Muthal Chudala Vare", and his other films include Taxi Car (1972) and Thaamarathoni (1975).
Rahman's own first Malayalam film was Mohanlal's Yoddha, directed by Sangeeth Sivan and released on September 3, 1992. He composed its songs and score, credited as Dileep.
Directed by Nitesh Tiwari, Ramayana stars Ranbir Kapoor as Rama, Yash as Ravana and Sai Pallavi as Sita. Yash is also a co-producer. The film opens on November 5.
Also read: Ramayana Part 1 bookings open today, 16 days before its Nov 5 release
