Why Indians continue to love 'Sound of Music' even today and relive it often

Lets start at the very beginning A very good place to start You probably sung this to the tune of one of the most iconic songs mdash DoReMi mdash from your childhood The Sound of Music 1965 arguably is responsible for teaching us DoReMi the Western music equivalent of SaReGaIt has been 60 years but the movie holds our hearts just like it did the very first time Whether you were a preteen or 16 going on 17 there was a song for every age The music was probably what still takes people back to a film they first watched in childhood ldquoI still go back to the songs especially My Favourite Things If Irsquom not wrong it was trending on Instagram too at some point but I think not everyone knew where it came fromrdquo says Anushka Sawarkar a German trainer and content writerJulie Andrews centre with the cast who played the von Trapp children during The Sound of Musicrsquos 40th anniversary reunion in 2005 in New York City PicGetty ImagesOriginating from Maria von Trapprsquos biography about her family of musicians who fled Austria under Nazi rule for America The Sound of Music Broadway musical was adapted into the film by director Robert Wise in 1965It won multiple Academy awards sweeping the world and saw partial adaptations in Indian cinema as well mdash Minnaram 1994 in Malayalam Parichay 1972 in Hindi Jay Jayanti 1971 in Bengali and Shanthi Nilayam 1969 in Tamil In 2023 the film Music School bought rights to three songs from The Sound of Music Do Re Mi So Long Farewell and Sixteen Going on Seventeen They were rearranged to suit Indian audiences by composer Ilaiyaraaja with the support of the London Philharmonic OrchestraFrom Left Ekta Bakhle Anushka Sawarkar Noel Mathew Vanita Visvanath and Aakanksha Singh DeviFor many in India their first encounter with the film was with family Aakanksha Singh Devi a content professional says ldquoItrsquos a very lively film and out of the seven kids you could relate to each one at least once It was a film that was relatable till you were 15 or 16rdquoEkta Bakhle a pet nutritionist and entrepreneur first saw it in Class 2 when her aunt lent her a CD of the film and she fell in love with it ldquoI was too young to understand the war and why they had to flee but I loved the songsrdquo she says admitting that she may have watched the film in its entirety almost 150 timesAnshul JoshiMany like Anshul Joshi an AI filmmaker watched it in school at least once every year ldquoThe music is what I remember the mostrdquo he says ldquoEvery song was a banger Some were playful some serious You have to listen to the songs to know why itrsquos greatrdquo Joshi shares that when the Broadway musical made its Indian debut in 2023 at The Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre NMACC in Mumbai he watched it four timesBakhle travelled to Mumbai from Pune to watch the Broadway show at NMACC ldquoI went alone I had saved up for the ticket and watching it gave me goosebumpsrdquo she says adding that she had written her version of My Favourite Things for a school assignment And she and her cousins came up with another version of the song for their grandfatherrsquos 75th birthdayIf you grew up in the rsquo80s and rsquo90s and attended a convent school chances are you performed one of the songs on stage ldquoI have vivid memorieshellip We performed it for our annual day in Class 4rdquo says Vanita Visvanath a content writerSawarkar believes itrsquos the songs that truly made the film stick ldquoTherersquos a certain innocence to themrdquo she says adding that the lyrics played a part in teaching her English vocabulary in her early yearsThe iconic numbers are relevant today too You could sing DoReMi anytime to introduce someone to Western music notes tease a niece with Sixteen Going on Seventeen hum Edelweiss if you are feeling particularly patriotic or count your favourite things on a bad day ldquoI love Favourite Things You know how they say look for glimmers not triggers in your day mdash This song is a personification of that Itrsquos a good reminder I love listening to itrdquo says VisvanathBeloved as the filmrsquos songs are the other aspects of the film are nothing short of brilliant too Noel Mathew an advertising professional who rewatched the film recently adds ldquoThe story is good the writing is brilliant the performances are lovelyhellip More than anything itrsquos nostalgia itrsquos a piece of childhoodrdquoMathew is one of the fans we spoke to who took the Sound of Music tour in Salzburg to the locations where the film was shot Speaking of her experience of the tour Singh Devi says ldquoItrsquos a bus ride with people who enjoy the music Everyone sings along and itrsquos lovelyrdquoJoshi opted for the cycle tour instead to the different locationsSpecial screenings of the film and other events are planned to celebrate the filmrsquos 60th anniversary in Salzburg while in Germany screenings are between September 2023 Visvanath says ldquoMy sister lives in Germany and shersquos going I have never seen it in the theatre so Irsquom hoping they rerelease the film in India toordquo