Mumbai: The actor Neel Sethi, who will be seen playing the role of ‘Mowgli’ in the upcoming film “The Jungle Book”, is set to present the movie in India. The 12-year-old boy is gearing up for the international tour to promote the flick. The child actor will visit a few special places in Mumbai, India.
In a statement to PTI, Neel said, “I have heard so many stories about the jungles of India from my maternal grandparents who live here. I am so excited to be visiting my homeland once again. When my parents heard that I got the part to play Mowgli, they were so excited because the stories are based in India.”
He further said, “I am thrilled to have played Mowgli in my first film and befriend the much loved characters like Bagheera the Panther and Baloo, the Bear. India is the first country internationally that I will be presenting the film in. I really hope people in India enjoy watching the jungle come to life.”
Filmmaker Jon Favreau said, “He was one of the last people that I looked at, and right away, I felt that he had the same emotional and physical qualities that Mowgli had in the ’67 animated version. His look was uncanny in how much he evoked what we wanted. He inherently had a good sense of fun and humour.”
“Everything in this movie is geared towards the performance of this one kid. I’ve worked with enough kids to be confident in my own taste and my ability to get the performance. He was just so real. He felt right. We knew we found our Mowgli,” he added.
The eagerly-awaited film also stars the voices of Bill Murray, Ben Kingsley, Idris Elba, Lupita Nyong’o, Scarlett Johansson, Giancarlo Esposito and Christopher Walken. The Disney’s Live-Action drama will release in India on April 8, a week before coming out in the US.
