Indian 2: Here’s why AR Rahman was replaced by Anirudh Ravichander in Kamal Haasan's film

Indian 2, the highly anticipated second installment in the Indian franchise, is gearing up to release on July 12, 2024. The movie, which marks the second collaboration of Kamal Haasan and director Shankar, has created quite a stir on social media with its trailer and songs. Anirudh Ravichander replaced original composer AR Rahman as the music director of the second part, leaving the film fanatics and cine-goers disappointed.

However, this creative move hasn’t gone well with the cine-goers, who are familiar with the iconic music of Indian. Anirudh Ravichanders’s songs are being heavily criticised by Tamil music lovers, who feel that AR Rahman should have continued in the team.

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Indian 2 director Shankar reveals why AR Rahman was replaced

In the recently held Indian 2 press meet in Chennai, director Shankar finally addressed the criticisms of the film’s music score. According to the veteran filmmaker, he decided to replace AR Rahman with Anirudh Ravichander, as the latter was busy with the background score works of their blockbuster outing 2.0, at that time. The filmmaker revealed that Kamal Haasan agreed to start the shooting of Indian 2 in February 2018, while he was busy with the post-production of the Rajinikanth starrer.

Also Read: Indian 2: Kamal Haasan says the Shankar directorial was a ‘big risk’  

AR Rahman, who composed music for 2.0, was busy with the background scoring of the film. As it was an extremely hectic assignment, the Academy Award winner could not come on board for Indian 2. So, the makers decided to rope Anirudh Ravichander, one of the most talented young musicians in the Tamil film industry, to compose songs and original scores for the Kamal Haasan film. However, the Indian sequel eventually got delayed and started rolling in 2020.

Also Read: Indian 2 vs Indian 3: Kamal Haasan’s statement gets mixed reactions from netizens

AR Rahman’s music score for Indian, the 1996-released Kamal Haasan starrer, has been considered one of the most iconic music albums ever produced in Tamil cinema. The Oscar Award-winner composed five unique songs and the popular Indian theme music for the film, along with the original score that remains unmatched. The audience can revisit the Shankar directorial on OTT, on popular platforms Aha Tamil, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ Hotstar, and OTTplay Premium.

Also read: Indian 2 audio launch on OTT: Here is where and when you can stream the event