Cast: Shriya Saran, Sharman Joshi, Prakash Raj, Leela Samson, Benjamin Gilani, Gracy Goswami, Shaan, Ozu Barua, Suhasini Mulay, Mona Ambegaonkar, Bugs Bhargava Krishna, Siddhiksha, Thanmai Bolt, Aripirala Satyaprasad, Vinay Varma, Olivia Charan, Srikanth Iyengar, G. Rohan Roy, and Mangala Bhatt.
Director: Papa Rao Biyyala
Music: Ilaiyaraaja
Producer: Papa Rao Biyyala
Editor: Manan Sagar
Cinematographer: Kiran Deohans
Screenplay: Papa Rao Biyyala
Plot:
Music School is about a music teacher from Goa, Mary (played by Shriya Saran). She joins a school as a music teacher, however, her classes are dismissed. The school focuses more on academics than on the arts. She barely has students attending her class. Manoj (played by Sharman Joshi) is a drama teacher at the same school, and he helps Mary find a house in the society in which he lives. At a time when she is about to give up, Manoj suggests to Mary that she start her own music school, and the duo together start music and drama classes in the apartment. They decide to enact a play. They get a few admissions, but the main students who are part of the play are forced by their parents to only study and not take part in extracurriculars. Samyuka (played by Gracy Goswami) is the daughter of the commissioner of police (Prakash Raj). She is the key person in the play. Music School is about how these children pursue their passions for music, dance, and drama, along with or sometimes without studies.
Performances:
We have four key performers in the entire show: Shriya, Sharman, Gracy, and Ozu Barua.
Shriya is a well-known dancer. She mesmerises with her performance and dance moves in this movie. Her introduction song, "I am from Goa," was a pleasure to watch. The actress got ample screen space to show her talents — as an actor and as a performer. As a music teacher from Goa, she did complete justice to her role.
Sharman plays the role of a drama teacher, and he has a sad past. He is a single parent to a beautiful, doll-like girl. He displayed all his emotions pretty well. We get to see a small love story between Shriya and Sharman, and the actor has done a good job.
Gracy was so glamorous in the movie that we just couldn’t stop looking at her. Not just acting, she also utilised the role to its fullest extent to showcase her dancing skills. She wore the skin of her character very well. Her name is Gracy, as is her performance.
Ozu plays the son of a watchman in the society in which Mary and Manoj live. He is a football player. He was cute and fun to watch.
The movie has a huge cast. Others, including Prakash Raj, Leela Samson, Benjamin, Vinay Varma were all fine in their elements.
One character that looked utterly artificial for his role was Shaan. Shaan is a brilliant performer in general, but in this movie as Albert, he just looked very off.
Analysis:
Music School has a very simple story. It wants to convey the message that children are not meant to be caged or forced to do something that their parents love. This is a musical film, and as the title suggests, the whole film runs on music. The movie begins with a song that has lyrics that go, "The only way to reach the top is if you are the best. The only way to be the best is to pass all the test.
"This song alone is enough to prove the core concept of Music School. Paparao Biyyala, who is the writer and director, deviates from the story. He added up so many unnecessary tracks in the film that the core essence was lost by the end. He failed to convey the message he intended to, even with the music. By the end of the film, you have taken no message home. It doesn’t have a single thought-provoking dialogue; instead, we get to see some irrelevant love tracks, dates, etc.
It is pictured in the most old-fashioned way. We aren’t saying the film is all that bad, but in a time and era we are living in, the making of the film looked old school. It felt like the film was intended for kids and not parents.
The cinematography was fine, but the screenplay is scattered.
Music School is truly an Ilayaraja musical, and it is only his music that saves the film and lets you sit through the two hour movie.
Conclusion:
This is a film that deviates from its core concept. A slice-of-life drama film where the flavours are missing, but a family audience with teenage kids might like this. This is surely not for all age groups of people.
Vox verdict: Not everyone’s cup of tea.
Rating: 1.5/5
