It all feels strangely familiar about Jai Jai Ram, the first song to be out from Nitesh Tiwari's highly anticipated Ramayana. It is not that there is anything wrong with the song, but the sheer scale of the film, which brings together Ranbir Kapoor, Sai Pallavi and Yash, and where the musical world involves A R Rahman and Hans Zimmer, Arijit Singh, Shreya Ghoshal and lyricist Kumar Vishwas, leaves one wondering. Why do we keep hearing songs that sound so much like what we have heard before when the budget is so mind-boggling?
It is not as if we are against devotional music, nor is anyone suggesting that the makers have ripped off an old song. The Ramayana is ancient and we have had devotional music in India for centuries. We have had familiar chants and phrases that have been part of the collective memory of the Indian sub-continent. It only becomes more interesting when a filmmaker takes one of the most familiar stories in human history and tries to scale it up to an extent that no one has seen before. Should the music just be a trigger to the memories that everyone already has, or should it seek to create a new musical identity that we could share as this generation?
That question is particularly pertinent because Jai Jai Ram comes from one of the biggest auditions in Indian cinema. Composed by Rahman, with Arijit and Shreya belting out the notes and Kumar Vishwas penning the lyrics. Rahman has gone on record to say that he tried to combine the intimacy of chanting the name of Shri Ram with the grandiose scale of cinema. It is the film, however, that has Hans Zimmer collaborating with Rahman on its music and score. With reports of the budget on Ramayana (in two parts) being a whooping Rs 4,000 crore, the expectations of everyone in the industry are bound to be even more grandiose.
And that is where the question on the budget comes in. If a movie has a budget of thousands of crores and is backed by composers like Rahman and Zimmer, what would we expect from its music? Obviously we expect more than a technically superior take on sounds and songs that have already been part of our lives. That does not mean that every single note needs to create a new sound, or redefine Indian music. After all, this is the Ramayana and the tradition it has been steeped in. But we expect to hear that tradition being taken to new places, not be stuck playing on familiar chords.
Instead, what Jai Jai Ram can do for its listeners is the impression that they are in some rather familiar devotional territory with a much bigger cinematic arrangement around it. Listeners have already pointed out the similarities to the known devotional music and popular Ram chants, and even compared to older Ramayan music and other Ram-centric movies in the past. Whether or not every similarity is technically a recreation is debatable, but the creative question remains as to why a song from such a talented set of names sounds so less adventurous?
The nostalgia trap is also at work here. Indian audiences have grown up with Ramanand Sagar's Ramayan, traditional bhajans and chants in temples, and songs and recordings that feature Ram for decades. The music vocabulary that surrounds Lord Ram is already so powerful. The moment one hears a familiar chant come into any new composition, it instantly triggers an emotion. That is a great short-cut, because the audience does not need to be introduced to the feeling. Generations have already done that hard work for us.
But nostalgia can also be a crutch, and one would think that the most exciting Ramayana would be one that respects that collective memory without relying on it. We need to imagine a scenario where we have heard the new theme years from now and we instantly think that the melody has come from this cinematic Ramayana, not any sort of older TV serial, a devotional album, or another Ram-centred film. That is what this film has, and that is a far more exciting prospect than creating something that is recognisably devotional.
It is all the more pertinent as we have already heard so many modern interpretations of Ram bhajans in recent times. The Adipurush, for instance, has already given us its own musical association with songs like Ram Siya Ram. The new track inevitably falls into that space. Obviously different composers are using their own tradition and devotional roots, but this is no comparison for the audiences. What makes it more so is the question as to what is the unique musical identity of this new Ramayana?
It is also a question of artistic integrity. Obviously that does not mean that art should say nothing of what is familiar. Great composers have taken tradition and made it their own. The question is why is this familiarity being used? Is it being used because it serves the story, or because it serves the audience with its memory of that story?
Maybe the most interesting part is that Ramayana has managed to assemble a team of people who are in the most perfect position to create something extraordinary. Rahman has shown time and again that he has the ability to take Indian musical traditions to unexpected places. Zimmer has spent years creating sonic worlds that make movies feel bigger. Arijit and Shreya are among the best contemporary voices in India, and Kumar Vishwas adds a literary flair to the project. Surely it is expected of us to hear a song that makes us stop and think "we have never heard Ram like this before". Instead, one part of the audience is asking "where have I heard this before"?
Obviously we cannot judge one song to be the Ramayana's ultimate verdict. The film's full score might reveal something far more ambitious, and Jai Jai Ram might only be a part of the larger sonic journey. The question is worth asking now as Ramayana has been heralded as something so much more than an average film.
India does not need to be reminded about who Ram is, and the trick the Rahman, Zimmer and makers have to strike is to give us a sound for Ram that this generation has never heard before. That perhaps is the real test. Not on how much money has been spent, not on how many international names have been hired, and not even on how spectacular the visuals are. But whether after the nostalgia fades, there is something truly new to remember.