Oct 25, 2026 10:00pm IST
Composer Max Richter on Why He Would Have Refused ‘Ramayana’ Had He Been Offered: ‘I Decline Projects with Local Music Culture’ (EXCLUSIVE)
Max Richter has arrived in Mumbai for the first time, bringing his years of experience in contemporary classical and film scoring to Indian audiences. He has previously composed for Irrfan Khan and Nimrat Kaur starrer “The Lunchbox” in 2013.
Bringing forth another collaboration between the West and India, “Ramayana” brings together two Academy Award-winning musicians, A. R. Rahman and Hans Zimmer, for its background score.
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Ahead of his concert marking his India debut, Richter joined Variety India for a conversation about the possibilities of bringing more of his music to Hindi storytelling, especially with the upcoming release of “Ramayana”. Taking a while to consider his options, Richter says, “I would think very carefully about taking on a project like ‘Ramayana’.”
Talking about whether he would take up the epic mythological film had it been offered to him, Richter adds, “‘Ramayana’ is a foundational text. And it's a little different from ‘The Lunchbox,’ which is rooted in the culture of this extraordinary lunchbox system. It's culturally specific, but it's not like ‘Ramayana’. I think the thing about working with film is often you can find ways in. But I personally tend to decline projects where there is a very specific local music culture which is central to it.”
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He gives the example of an upcoming film that he declined due to its cultural dependency, “I've just declined a project which was set in the Old West, but it was based around a Chinese community. And a lot of the music was either sort of Old West, American West folk music or Chinese material.”
Richter announces his refusal to take on something that’s region-specific, “I love the film, but I feel like I don't know enough about it. And someone else is going to be better at it.
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