Also quite fitting are Ben Kingsly as Bagheera, Mowgli’s mentor, and Idris Elba as Shere Khan, the fierce jungle cat out for revenge.At the film’s European premiere in London April 13, director Jon Favreau told Reuters that the possibility of a sequel usually hinges on audience reactions to the first.
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The film, which is released in cinemas on Friday (15.04.16) follows the story of Mowgli, a young boy who has been raised by a family of wolves since his birth.
The Jungle Book box office collections, a Jon Favreau’s 3D live-animation adventure fantasy film, have gone up to Rs 73.50 crore net with the collections on Thursday beating all other days to go up to the Rs 11 crore mark.
The majestic tiger was once badly injured by a human and firmly believes that men have no place in the jungle.
“Ask yourselves”, he purrs, “how many lives is a man-cub worth?” Kinglsey’s voice, so filled with gravitas, makes for a ideal Bagheera.
The end of the journey brings Mowgli a resolution to the Shere Khan problem but also a new understanding of his place in the jungle. The best part about it is not even its spectacular visuals, but the ways in which the filmmakers have intelligently and empathetically dug deeper into the story. Children can come for the talking animals, and adults can stay for the superb vocal performances.
In the only significant live-action role, newcomer Neel Sethi is Mowgli, the plucky young hero, and it says something about his screen presence that he never is overwhelmed by the gorgeous scenery and his photo-realistic co-stars – all created digitally, of course. But he needed his Baloo, and so he set off on the quest for Bill Murray, who is a hard man to reach: “I wrote letters, left messages, communicated through third parties, it was like negotiating with a government you’re not supposed to negotiate with!” I want to do a lot more acting – I think it would be a lot of fun. It’s naturalism in a natural setting and it works wonderfully.
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The Jungle Book is one of those rare family films that everyone in the family will enjoy no matter their age.
