[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mkm22yO-bs]
I watched Jungle Book, the movie, about four days ago and I was so overwhelmed and nostalgic by it that I went back to read the book. I am back here to tell you that the movie can be loved despite all your past love for Jungle whether it was the movie or the book.
Since The Jungle Book was written by Rudyard Kipling around 1894, almost every generation of children has some attachment to the story. For us it was the teleseries by Doordarshan that introduced us to the book. (It is only recently that I found out that it was a dubbing of a Japanese teleseries called Jungle Book Shonen Mowgli.
But nonetheless, those characters had a deep influence on me and when I heard that they were going to make a remake I was not too keen. I cannot imagine a voice more formidable than Nana Patekar's! It is an altogether different matter that they changed the name from the original. I hadn't even watched the Hollywood movie when it came on television. But I have to admit that the trailers kind of made me curious. Another reason was that I had not experienced the 4D, so I did go to the movie.
You might think what's my worry really? The stories are on the book's framework after all! But each movie, each director takes liberty with the story. I mean I am okay when the Jurassic World didn't match up to the Jurassic Park story but this is almost a sacred story.
But I can assure you I loved the work. Jon Favreau, the director, seems to be as much in love with the story as we are. He handles the plot very well, only using the most loved plot elements and presenting them with as much creativity in terms of animation and keeping the story adventurous and fun! Neel Sethi, the Mowgli for this movie, is rather precocius child in real but with a sense of adventure. He seems believable as a kid who can live a life like that.
Also as a child I had gotten slightly disinterested as Mowgli meets Radha, since it meant he would be leaving the jungle behind. Favreau also doesn't go in the direction. I like the old school idea that kids' movies should be about innocence and fun, there is an entire life to be an adult and there is no need for educating kids about it.
Oh by the way, it was also my first 4D movie which I enjoyed but 3d is good enough for me as a grown up. The kids in the theatre however, loved the experience.
The Jungle Book definitely is a story that every generation of kids should watch for it teaches the value of looking at other being capable of giving love to not just their own kinds but of other species as well, of which there are so many evidences as well. It also is one of those stories where a man adapts to the nature rather than looking at it as an adversary. This is also the need of the hour, as environment faces a challenge when countries and myopic leaders fight over who has more rights to pollute.
