Freida Pinto opens up about Hindi part in ‘Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle’

Mumbai, (Maharashtra) [India] Nov 25 (ANI): Actor Frieda Pinto, who attended the world premiere of upcoming Hollywood movie ‘Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle’ in Mumbai on Sunday, said that Director Andy Serkis had once told her to do her part in Hindi.

Pinto, who plays the part of Messua- Mowgli’s human mother- said that during the South Africa leg of their shoot, Andy had told her to play her part in Hindi too.

“So for me to go to South Africa and actually work with fellow actors all speaking in Hindi, and all the other things I associate with India came to life with this movie,” she further said, while describing her journey with the movie.

Walking down the memory lane, Pinto recalled how one would watch ‘The Jungle Book’ in Hindi every Sunday when it aired on Doordarshan. “There was so much of human life in the village that was captured in that version, and I have not seen that version anywhere else,” she added.

Pinto even credited Andy for making this film an “ode to India”.

The world premiere saw the unveiling of the Hindi trailer of the much- anticipated movie. Here, Hollywood met Bollywood, as the English and the Hindi voice cast that included Anil Kapoor, Abhishek Bachchan, Christian Bale, Andy Serkis, Freida Pinto, Madhuri Dixit, and Kareena Kapoor Khan attended the gala event. The lead of the film, Rohan Chand, also made an appearance.

One of the highlights of the event was Anil Kapoor and Andy Serkis- both of whom are voicing Baloo in their respective languages- mimicking a bear while looking at each other.

The cast list for the Hindi-language voice dub of the movie includes Anil Kapoor, who will be lending his voice for the ever-so-friendly character of Baloo and Abhishek Bachchan, who will be heard as Bagheera, the black panther.

Kareena, on the other hand, will be dubbing for the giant python Kaa, Jackie Shroff will lend his distinctive and deep voice for the legendary predator Shere Khan. Madhuri Dixit will be joining the jungle as the character of Nisha, who is the wolf mother to Mowgli.

Meanwhile, the English voice cast includes Benedict Cumberbatch as Shere Khan, Cate Blanchett as the snake Kaa, director Andy Serkis as the voice of the bear Baloo, and Christian Bale as Bagheera the panther.

The English cast also stars Naomie Harris, Peter Mullan, and Matthew Rhys.

Based on Rudyard Kipling’s classic novel ‘The Jungle Book’, the movie will stream on Netflix on December 7.

This is the first time a Hollywood film premiered in India first. [source_without_link]ANI[/source_without_link]