AR Rahman composes for Hollywood’s take on Ramayana

AR Rahman, Gurinder Chadha and Paul Berges will come together for director Kevin Lima’s Bollywood-style animated musical adventure titled Monkeys of Mumbai.

Oscar-winner AR Rahman, Gurinder Chadha and Paul Berges are coming together for director Kevin Lima’s Bollywood-style animated musical adventure titled Monkeys of Mumbai. Lima, who directed Disney’s animated Tarzan (1999) before turning to live-action hits like 102 Dalmations (2000) and Enchanted (2007), has signed on to helm DreamWorks Animation’s new project, whose story is somewhat similar to the Indian epic, Ramayana.

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The movie revolves around a man whose wife is kidnapped by a demon king. Lima will approach the story through the point of view of two common monkeys, who become unlikely heroes. “Ever since Enchanted, I’ve been looking for a musical. When DreamWorks Animation approached me with the prospect of doing a Bollywood musical with such renowned collaborators, I knew this was the one,” said Lima.

Chadha and Berges, who penned Bride & Prejudice (2004) and Bend It Like Beckham (2002), are writing the script. Rahman, who bagged two Oscars for his music in Slumdog Millionaire (2008), is the composer while Stephen Schwartz is working on the lyrics.