"Bringing the 'bear necessities' to Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle as Baloo."
Netflix India has revealed the cast for the streaming service’s upcoming film, titled Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle.
The film is the directorial project of English actor and filmmaker Andy Serkis, who is best known for his motion capture work.
An all-star cast of Bollywood stars will be voicing the iconic Jungle Book characters for the Hindi-dubbed version of the film.
Anil Kapoor, Madhuri Dixit and Kareena Kapoor Khan are just a few names who are part of the fantasy adventure film.
Veteran actor Anil Kapoor shows no signs of slowing down his acting career, which has spanned almost 40 years.
He is part of Rudyard Kipling’s classic story, voicing Mowgli’s loving guardian bear Baloo, while Serkis portrays the bear in the English version.
The actor took to Twitter to announce the news with an image of Baloo the bear along with the caption that read:
“Bringing the ‘bear necessities’ to Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle as Baloo, the tenacious mentor.”
Bringing the 'bear necessities' to Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle as Baloo, the tenacious mentor. On @NetflixIndia, Dec 7 pic.twitter.com/730bpTTUkL
— Anil Kapoor (@AnilKapoor) November 20, 2018
Kareena Kapoor Khan will play the part of Kaa, the hypnotic python. Her manager Poonam Damania took to social media to announce Kareena’s role in the film.
She wrote: “A voice that captivates like no other. Kareena Kapoor Khan to tell the story of the jungle as Kaa in Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle.”
Madhuri Dixit takes on the role of Mowgli’s wolf mother Nisha. The actress posted her excitement on Twitter:
“Ferocious when provoked, especially when it comes to her man cub!
“Nisha brings the motherly instinct alive in Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle. So excited to be the voice behind Nisha.”
Bagheera, the advisor and guide of Mowgli will be voiced by none other than Abhishek Bachchan while Jackie Shroff takes on the role of Shere Khan.
The streaming giant also announced that actress Freida Pinto, who plays Mowgli’s adoptive mother, will also do the voice work in Hindi.
However, it has not been confirmed who will voice Mowgli in the Hindi version. Rohan Chand plays Mowgli in the English version, it may be a possibility that he will do the Hindi one also.
The English version of Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle has an equally impressive cast playing key roles.
This includes Christian Bale as Bagheera, Cate Blanchett as Kaa and Benedict Cumberbatch as Shere Khan.
At Netflix’s ‘See What’s Next Asia’ event in Singapore, as well as new Indian projects being announced, Andy Serkis spoke of his upcoming film.
He mentioned the Indian origins of the classic tale. Serkis said:
“You can’t tell this story to the world without acknowledging that this character is from India, and Rudyard Kipling (the writer of Mowgli) was from India.
“He was a child of British India and had a particular set of values. And you have to reinterpret the values and underpin the story in that manner.”
A trailer for the adventure film was also released at the event.
The story of Mowgli and The Jungle Book is one of India’s most loved children’s books and has always been a popular read.
This reimagined version will have its world premiere in Mumbai on November 25, 2018.
Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle will be available for streaming on Netflix from December 7, 2018.
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