The Jungle Book Movie Review

Revisit the awesomeness of the 90s with a new feel

Initially, I was not very gung ho about reviewing the latest interpretation of Rudyard Kipling’s celebrated novel Jungle book. It wasn’t just for the fascinating depiction of jungle life in the book. For several television-watching Indians, Sunday mornings would not have been the same if it were not for the Hindi dubbing of a Japanese anime adaptation of Kipling's classic. Nothing could ever match the nostalgia, I thought.

I was wrong.  

For, John Favreau’s VFX-laden adaptation of the Kipling’s classic is a must-watch for every generation.

It would beat your belief that barring Mowgli played by a immensely talented Neel Sethi, every other creature or imagery does not really exist. The whole visual set up has been created by brilliant CGI team in a 12-storied building in downtown LA.

Nostalgia will bite every 90s kid who grew up watching Jungle Book on Doordarshan. It could be like visiting their childhood with a new feel.

The animal effects are overwhelmingly successful. By CGI standards, the film has picked up from where Life of Pi (another visual treat) left it.

To say the Jungle was any less than a visual spectacle would be doing gross injustice to film’s CGI team. It must have taken a mammoth of an effort to recreate Madhya Pradesh’s famous Kanha tiger reserve in a Los Angeles studio.

Jungle book starts with a young Mowgli struggling to learn the wolf's way of life. A dry spell rocks the jungle and every animal congregate nears the peace rock for water. It is here that the majestic but intimidating Sher Khan makes an entry. He smells a man and demands the boy to be surrendered to him.

The wolves decide that Mowgli should be returned to the man village where he truly belongs. While Mowgli is on his way back, Sher Khan attacks him and this is where the adventure of Mowgli with the water buffaloes, Kaa, Baloo and King Louie kick off.

You (kids of 90s) will have all the familiar characters, the strict but caring Bageera (Ben Kingsley/Om Puri), old loving pal Balu ( a superb Bill Murray/Irrfan Khan), mother wolf Raksha(upita Nyong’O),King Louie (Christopher Walken/Bugs Bhargava) and the dreaded Bengal tiger Sher Khan (Idris Elba/Nana Patekar).

It must have taken a lot of hard work to create CGI made animals who emote and enact without anything appearing out of the ordinary.  

The film has enough thrilling moments to keep you on the edge of the seats. On particular sequence where the tiger lunges forward to grasp the little boy will startle you to your wits.

Entry of the giant snake Kaa (a hypnotic Scarlett Johanson/ Priyanka Chopra) is something that may trouble your sleep, The sound team has smartly put surround sound to best use and as you gear up for an unnervingly trippy sequence, the fear builds on you.

Composer John Debney offers a lush symphonic score, and the 3D work is worth the ticket price.

In Hindi, you will also have the old Gulzar Song- Jungle Jungle Baat Chali hai brilliantly composed by Vishal Bharadwaj.

Jungle Book has a surprisingly strong and novel message at the heart of it and Favreau succeeds in making it a soulful journey beneath all the digital flash.

A must-watch !