Stephen Schwartz to Pen Lyrics for Animated Feature Monkeys of Bollywood

Wicked composer Stephen Schwartz will team up with Slumdog Millionaire composer A.R. Rahman for Monkeys of Bollywood, a forthcoming animated feature film musical from DreamWorks Animation, according to Variety. Inspired by The Ramayana, the movie will center on two monkeys who try to stop an ancient demon from conquering the world.

"As soon as I heard that DreamWorks Animation envisioned making an animated Bollywood movie, I knew I wanted to be a part of it," Schwartz said in a statement. "The fact that A.R. Rahman got involved made it an even more exciting project."

The husband-and-wife producing team of Gurinder Chadha and Paul Berges (Bend It Like Beckham, Bride and Prejudice) will produce Monkeys of Bollywood for DreamWorks.

In addition to his scores for Wicked, Godspell, Pippin and other musicals, Schwartz composed songs for DreamWorks’ Prince of Egypt.