HBO US airing docus on India this month

MUMBAI: US broadcaster HBO is airing the documentary, ?The Sound of Mumbai: A Musical?, on 23 November on HBO2.

With its images of mountains, ?The Sound of Music? might
not seem like a natural fit for India‘s "maximum city," but the Bombay Chamber Orchestra begs to differ. Recruiting kids from the slums - home to half the city‘s population - the Orchestra sets out to stage a one-time-only choral performance of the Rogers & Hammerstein score.

?The Sound Of Mumbai: A Musical? tells the story of the tenacious, musically inclined Indian street children who are enlisted to perform a concert with members of the elite orchestra. For 11-year-old Ashish, like many of the other kids, performing in the concert means more than singing in a world-class theater; it also offers the hope of rising above his social and cultural limits.

The film is one of four documentaries about contemporary India debuting on HBO and HBO2 in the US this month. The others are: ?Marathon Boy?, the story of a four-year-old marathon runner whose rags-to-riches saga morphs into a tale of greed, corruption and broken dreams, which aired on 3 November on HBO; ?The Bengali Detective?, a portrait of Rajesh Ji, who solves crimes in the city of Kolkata while following his dreams of being a professional dancer, will air on 16 November on HBO2.

Then there is ?Pink Saris?, profiling the unlikely female activists of Northern India‘s Gulabi Gang, who battle violence
against women, that will air on 30 November on HBO2.