Actor Abhishek Bachchan on Sunday said voice-over for the Indianised version of English movie "Mowgli: The Legend of the Jungle" has been challenging and liberating.
Netflix India launched the Indian version trailer of "Mowgli..." in the presence of filmmaker director and actor Andy Serkis, along with original voice-over cast, Christian Bale, Freida Pinto and Rohan Chand, and Indian dubbing team, which includes Abhishek Bachchan, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Madhuri Dixit and Anil Kapoor.
Talking about voicing black-panther (Bagheera), Abhishek Bachchan said the whole experience was very challenging as well as liberating.
The "Manmarziyaan" actor said: "It was very challenging. For the first time in our films or industry, there isn't a huge element of your personality that you always bring through characters, which is probably not prevalent in the West. In Indian cinema, it is almost the prerequisite... What was liberating is that you got to be a new character entirely and you have to work within those boundaries."
Transition of language was equally challenging, said the "Dostana" actor, adding: "What was nice that I wasn't playing a human being, and keeping that in mind, keeping the way Andy Serkis has designed the characters, the way Christian Bale has performed it, and then try to Indianise it...that was very challenging.
"And also to fit linguistically, Hindi into English dialogue, was quiet tough. Both are completely different languages, with different tone and meter, so that was also challenging."
Like Abhishek, who acknowledged that his job was made easier by having such strong references for the character in Bale’s performance, Anil Kapoor, who voices Baloo, also thanked Serkis for his ‘layered’ characterisation. Serkis, in addition to directing the film, also plays the fan favourite bear.
This more nuanced take on what has historically been such a ‘fun-loving’ character, as Abhishek pointed out, was what convinced Anil to take on the role. “Usually you’d have the director right next to you when you dub for a film, but this time I had Andy’s voice,” he said.
As evidenced by the Hindi trailer, Anil has brought a lot of his own personality to the role of Baloo. At one point, he even drops his catchphrase, “Jhakaas!”
“Whenever I would get stuck, I would listen to Andy’s voice (as Baloo) over and over again, and try to figure out what emotion he was going for, what he was thinking,” Anil continued. He also pointed out that this was the first time in a decade that he was sharing the stage with Freida Pinto, his co-star in the Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire.
The Netflix version of Rudyard Kipling's "The Jungle Book" is darker and edgier than releases of its previous versions.
"Mowgli: The Legend of the Jungle" will release on December 7.
'Mowgli...' is an ode to India: Freida Pinto
Actress Freida Pinto says actor-filmmaker Andy Serki's "Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle" is an ode to India.
The film is based on Rudyard Kipling's widely-read classic "The Jungle Book" -- story of a boy in an Indian jungle, who grows up with animals.
"Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle" stars Indian-American child actor Rohan Chand, Matthew Rhys and Freida Pinto, along with voice and motion capture performances from Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Benedict Cumberbatch, Naomie Harris and Serkis.
"Beautiful part about 'Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle' is that it is an ode to India. I remember Andy telling me before I left for South Africa that he wanted me to do my parts in Hindi and wanted to attempt it and go down that route."
She added the film, which is set to release on streaming giant Netflix on December 7, brought back beautiful things associated with the country.
"Me going to South Africa and act with fellow actors speaking in Hindi, enjoying kind of a version of the Holi festival and singing by lullaby written-composed by Nitin Sohni... All of these beautiful things I associate with India came to life in that movie," Freida said.
The actress is playing the role of a caring motherly Indian woman named Messua in the movie.
Talking about working with Andy, with whom she has in the 2011 film "Rise of the Planet of the Apes", Freida says: "It is always a pleasure working with Andy (Serkis) and I hope for many more. When Andy and I worked together for the first time in the 'Rise of the Planet of the Apes', it was the fourth film of my career.
"I had no idea of what motion capture was and what's going to happen on set... Working with him, in this project, all the animals and actors blend in with motion capture."
The actress, 34, said she is grateful to Serkis for letting her speak in Hindi in the film and also letting her dub herself.