AR Rahman to compose music for Ishaan Khatter-starrer Pippa

AR Rahman is joining Raja Krishna Menon’s Pippa (2021) as its composer. The war drama, starring Ishaan Khatter, is being co-produced by Ronnie Screwvala’s RSVP Movies and Siddharth Roy Kapur’s Roy Kapur Films.

Pippa, which also stars Mrunal Thakur and Priyanshu Painyuli, is set in the Indo-Pakistan war of 1971 and follows the journey of Brigadier Balram Singh Mehta of the 45th cavalry tank squadron, played by Khatter. The film’s title refers to the Russian war tank called PTI-76 (nicknamed Pippa), in which Mehta fought in.

In a news report in Variety.com, Rahman shared he was keen to work with the team of Pippa and stated, “The story of Pippa has a very human connect. It’s about every family, and I instantly related with it.”

The Oscar-winning composer and performer has cut down on his Hindi film assignments in recent years. Last year, he composed the scores of Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s Shikara (2020) and Mukesh Chhabra’s Dil Bechara (2020). Rahman is working on a number of big-name projects across Indian cinema, including Mani Ratnam’s Ponniyin Selvan and Aanand L Rai’s Atrangi Re.

Screwvala said Patriotic and inspiring music has been AR Rahman’s forte since the beginning of his iconic career. "We are happy to welcome the maestro onto team Pippa. Collaborating with him has always resulted in spectacular albums and I’m inclined to believe that his music will be the beating heart of our film,” he said.

The feature film, which is due to be released by the end of the year, is adapted from Mehta’s memoir The Burning Chaffees. The former army man worked with Ravinder Randhawa, Tanmay Mohan and director Menon on the film adaption.