India, Oct. 22 -- Music maestro AR Rahman's association with Ramayana comes with an unusual backstory. At the film's album launch event in Chennai on October 21, the composer recalled receiving an email more than a decade ago from a man who claimed to have dreamt about Rahman creating music for the epic. Today, with the composer working on the upcoming adaptation alongside Hans Zimmer, that old message has taken on a new meaning.

Remembering the incident, AR Rahman told the audience that a man named Sathish had contacted him in 2014 with details of his dream. "There is something I wanted to share. In 2014, a gentleman called Sathish manifested that I would be composing the music for Ramayana," he said before reading out the message.

The...