Most of us know the Jungle Book as the Disney movie with all the adorable characters and memorable songs or the TV series that was dubbed in Hindi for Indian TV from the Japanese anime television series Jungle Book Shonen Mowgli with its mischievous chaddi pehenke phool khila hai song. However the original Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling was rather different from these dramatised versions and there have been a great many other versions as well.

The actual Jungle Book dates back to 1894

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Rudyard Kipling wrote the Jungle Book as a collection of short moral fables and published them between 1893 and 1894. It is thought that he wrote these stories for his daughter who died at age 6. The stories contained all that the Indian born author had “heard or dreamed about the Indian jungle” and spoke about rules of safety for families, individuals and communities. There is the abandoned man-cub raised by wolves, but certainly no singing bears or jazz playing monkeys.

 

The first Jungle Book feature film was made in 1942

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The plot of the film centred around Baldev who speaks about the dangers of the jungle and tells the story of a child who is adopted by wolves. The story also involves lost treasures and accusations of witchcraft and forest fires.

 

The Disney Jungle Book was made in 1967

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This film featured some of the most enduring and endearing animated characters ever – Bhaloo,  Bagheera, Kaa, King Louie and the cameo by the four vultures loosely modeled on the Beatles. It also featured songs such as Look for the bare necessities, The Elephant March, I wanna be like you and That’s what friends are for that have become an indelible part of countless childhoods.

 

Jungle jungle pata chala hai/ Chaddi pahan ke phool khila hai

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The serial that became a part of the growing up years in India was the dubbed version of the Japanese cartoon series and featured the lively, whimsical song by Gulzar and Vishal Bhardwaj.

 

Three more Jungle Books from 1994 to 1998

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Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book (1994) is a Disney film starring Jason Scott Lee as Mowgli, The Second Jungle Book: Mowgli and Baloo (1997) had Jamie Williams as Mowgli and The Jungle Book: Mowgli’s Story (1998) featured starring Brandon Baker as Mowgli.

 

The 2016 Jungle Book movie

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Slated for release on 8 April, the movie is going to have a similar story to the 1967 film and the Indian version is going to feature the beloved Jungle-Jungle song and Hindi dubbing by actors such as Nana Patekar (who did the original voiceover for Shere Khan) , Priyanka Chopra, Om Puri and Irrfan. If you haven’t already seen it, here’s the trailer; Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=is6d3UrGqyw

 

Author – Reena Daruwalla

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