One wonders how else could Rudyard Kipling’s masterpiece be depicted since we have already been treated to Disney’s 2016 blockbuster adaptation of it The Jungle Book, which generated 966 million at the worldwide box office.
Slumdog Millionaire fame Freida Pinto, who plays Messua in the movie, said that the way Andy Serkis has shot the film is “phenomenal” and Indian-origin actor Rohan Chand has done a brilliant job as Mowgli.
“I have been waiting for Mowgli to come out. It has been a long wait. It has been three years since we shot for it. So, it is going to be absolutely phenomenal. In terms of performances, Rohan Chand is going to blow everyone’s mind. He is a perfect Mowgli. Everyone in the team, including Andy Serkis, is on top of their game. Specifically for Indian audience, there is a little surprise, which I don’t want to ruin right now. We need to wait just a bit more. Indian audience is going to love it,” Pinto told PTI in an interview.
The CGI footage for Mowgli released by Warner Bros. features ghastly-looking beasts such as the malevolent tiger Shere Khan, voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch, who asserts, “My, my, how you’ve grown.”
While The Jungle Book was based on Rudyard Kipling’s classic 19th Century tale of the boy who grew up in the jungles of India, this film is going to have a dark twist to the story. It’s centered more on rebelliousness of the boy.
In the opening scene, we see the cruelty meted out to the the boy who is captured in a cage like a feral animal by village-dwellers. Serkis also voice stars as the fun-loving bear, Baloo and Christian Bale lends his voice to the sombre panther, Bagheera – the man-cub’s friends.
The rest of the voice cast includes Cate Blanchett as Kaa, Naomie Harris as Nisha, Peter Mullan as Akela, Jack Reynor as Mowgli’s brother Wolf, Eddie Marsan as Vihaan, Tom Hollander as Tabaqui and Matthew Rhys as Lockwood.
Scrapping the “bear necessities”, Andy Serkis’ version of the movie is going to be crafted as a rather dark retelling of the tale where Mowgli is set to be more amidst the humans than the animals.
Warner Bros. will release Mowgli on 19 October.
