Remember the small boy Mowgli from the Jungle Book? The title song, Jungle Jungle baat chali hai, pata chala hai..! Disney has casted an Indian-American boy from New York. Neel Sethi will be the new Mowgli in “The Jungle Book.”
Jon Favreau is directing the live action film from a script by Justin Marks. The 10-year-ol Sethi, form New York, was chosen from among thousands of kids who auditioned for the role in the U.S., the U.K., New Zealand and Canada. “The Jungle Book” will be Sethi’s first acting role.
Casting director Sarah Finn described Sethi as embodying “the heart, humor, and daring of the character. He’s warm and accessible, yet also has intelligence well beyond his years and impressed us all with his ability to hold his own in any situation. Even though he has no professional acting experience, his natural charisma and instincts jumped out at us.”
Sethi will be the only actor seen on screen in the film, with the rest of the characters created as computer-generated creatures. Disney will release “The Jungle Book” on October 9, 2015. Good Luck to the new Mowgli!
– By Anand Thakkar
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