The era of 90’s is considered golden for many reasons, but for the Gen Y, 90’s will always remain the decade of Mowgli, at least for us Indians. Yes, that yellow fur wearing, human who lived in the jungle with his awesome friends Bagheera, Baloo (Bhalu), Pappu and scary enemy Shere Khan. The week long wait for half an hour episode meant everything to a 3 year old me.
Jon Favreau, the director of the recently released live-action ‘The Jungle Book’, would’ve never thought what territory he’s venturing into and what the story meant for all 80’s and 90’s kids in India!
With popular Hollywood actors giving their voiceovers and a popular, successful director on board, ‘The Jungle Book’ was expected to be a massive Hollywood release, but Disney India’s decision to include famous Bollywood names for the Hindi dubbed version made it a huge release in the home market as well!
The authenticity might be in the English version but the Hindi dubbed version is and will remain closer to our hearts for reasons listed below:
The language connect
Let’s face it, most of us watched the Hindi dubbed version before the original Disney movie. Thus, Mowgli always seemed ‘one of us’. A desi boy living with his friends, using pure Hindi and urdu words. Even the names of the animals were our popular nicknames! It was one foreign originated series which was based in an Indian set up. Hence it was more relatable.
Trip to nostalgia land
One can feel the excitement the moment ‘Chaddhi Pehen Ke’ plays on TV or radio these days. It brings back a flood of memories and take us back to those lovely Sunday afternoon when homework used to be naming the animals or writing 5 colors. TV with gigantic backs that sat like an old, fat grandad on one full trolley immediately come into our minds. ‘The Jungle Book’ brings all that back and this time in 3D, for real!
Familiar settings and recall factor
Yes, ‘Water Truce’ is good but ‘Jal Shanti Sandhi’ sounds like our very own Doordarshan! Rudyard Kipling wrote his book after getting inspired from an Indian jungle. The name of every character is Indian. There is Indian-ness all over ‘The Jungle Book’. Jon Favreau kept the originality intact by choosing an Indian for the part of Mowgli. All this combined with the voices of Om Puri, Shefali Shah, Nana Patekar and Priyanka Chopra, gives us the much loved old wine in an even more wonderful new bottle!
Our childhood legacy
For many people, including myself, ‘Mowgli’ is probably the first TV show memory alongside Shaktimaan. Now is the time to show your legacy to the new generation of kids. The smart phone kids deserve to know all the hysteria around the film! They might find it funny, maybe even refuse to watch the ‘tacky’ Hindi version, but ‘Mowgli’ was, is and will remain the first friend, Gen Y is so proud of!
The Hindi version of ‘The Jungle Book’ brings everything back on a bigger scale. The happiness we felt with our friend ‘Mowgli’, the desperation we experienced when an episode was missed, the first song we learnt and recognised and the book our school teachers read to us often!
Thank you Jon Favreau and Disney India for bringing our childhood back. You have no idea what scale of happiness you’ve brought in our lives!
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