South Asian

The Sound of Mumbai: A Musical

“The Sound of Music,” with its imagery of mountains and edelweiss may seem far removed from India’s Mumbai, but this upbeat and moving film begs to differ. Director Sarah McCarthy follows the transformative experiment of the Bombay Chamber Orchestra as they recruit children from the Mumbai slum for a one-night performance of the beloved Rodgers & Hammerstein musical at the National Centre for the Performing Arts, usually closed to the city’s lower classes. At the center of the story is 11-year-old Ashish, whose wide smile and optimism can melt the coldest heart. With so many hopes riding on this single performance, the stakes are high for everyone. And in telling this story, McCarthy remains mindful of the gaps that lie between dreams and reality, rich and poor. THE SOUND OF MUMBAI: A MUSICAL never glosses over the difficulty of closing those gaps, but it joyfully expresses the effort of trying.

preceded by:

In the Spirit of Laxmi