The Sound of Music: Paparao Biyyala, an Indian IAS officer turned filmmaker, is getting ready to release his debut movie, “Music School,” which will be the first Indian movie to secure the rights to the classic play, 58 years after the iconic, Oscar-winning, and only official film adaptation of the classic musical play The Sound of Music.
Since its premiere on Broadway in 1959, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s ageless classic The Sound of Music has left its mark on popular cultural history. A decade later, in 1965, Robert Wise released the first motion picture adaptation of the same-named musical, which went on to win five Oscars. Nearly 60 years later, writer-director Paparao Biyyala secured the formal rights to the Broadway musical’s soundtrack for his first film, “Music School.”
The three songs “Do Re Mi,” “So Long Farewell,” and “Sixteen Going on Seventeen” from the musical were beautifully woven for various situations in the movie “Music School” by music maestro Ilaiyaraaja, who also scored the original musical compositions by Richard Rodgers by the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
The makers of the multilingual film Music School assembled the best team possible and hired Adam Murray, a choreographer from Hollywood, to choreograph several songs. They also hired Raju Sundaram and Chinni Prakash, two of India’s top choreographers, to choreograph the remaining songs.
Music School is a musical account of the delicate and pervasive issue of academic pressure that society, parents, and teachers place on young kids. Three of the eleven songs in the movie have been adapted from The Sound of Music, and they have been expertly integrated into the story to appeal to the Indian audience.
Kiran Deohans, an accomplished cinematographer, nailed the film’s opulent appearance. In addition to Ozu Barua, making her acting debut, and Gracy Goswamy playing pivotal roles, the cast also features Shriya Saran, Sharman Joshi, and Prakash Raj in prominent roles. Benjamin Gilani, Suhasini Mulay, Mona Ambeognkar, Leela Samson, Bugs Bhargava, Vinay Varma, Sreekanth Iyengar, Vaquar Sheikh, Phani, and a large number of other young performers make up the other cast.
This bilingual movie, which is produced by Yamini Films in Hyderabad, was dubbed in Tamil and was shot in Hindi and Telugu. On May 12, 2023, PVR will release it in Hindi-Tamil, and Dil Raju will release it in Telugu.
