'Music School' acquires rights for 3 'The Sound of Music' songs

LOS ANGELES: The rights of three songs from iconic 1959 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical 'The Sound of Music' have been acquired by Indian film 'Music School'.

The cast includes Shriya Saran, Sharman Joshi and Prakash Raj in leading roles, in addition to debutant Ozu Barua and Gracy Goswamy in key roles. Benjamin Gilani, Suhasini Mulay, Mona Ambeognkar, Leela Samson, Bugs Bhargava, Vinay Varma, Sreekanth Iyengar, Vaquar Sheikh and Phani are also part of the cast.

Veteran Indian composer Ilaiyaraaja has recreated the songs along with the London Philharmonic Orchestra to suit the sensibilities of an Indian audience.

The musical was adapted as a 1965 film by Robert Wise, starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer, which went on to win five Oscars and also had two live television adaptations - on NBC in 2013 and ITV in 2015, reports Variety.

'Music School' is directed by Indian civil service officer-turned filmmaker Paparao Biyyala, who has obtained the rights for three songs from 'The Sound of Music' - 'Do Re Mi', 'So Long Farewell' and 'Sixteen Going on Seventeen'.

'Music School' deals with the academic pressure faced by young students from society, parents and teachers. The film has eleven songs in all. Some of the songs are choreographed by the U.K.'s Adam Murray ('Rocketman') while the others are by Indian veterans Chinni Prakash ('Hum') and Raju Sundaram ('Gentleman'). Cinematography is by Kiran Deohans ('Jodhaa Akbar')

Produced by Yamini Films, the film is shot in the Hindi and Telugu languages and has a dubbed Tamil-language version. PVR Pictures will release the Hindi version and Dil Raju's Sri Venkateswara Creations the Telugu and Tamil versions on May 12.