BackDisney builds on India’s love for ‘The Jungle Book’
Walt Disney's classic fantasy adventure film 'The Jungle Book' is banking heavily on the love and familiarity that Indian audiences harbour towards the story
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New Delhi: Walt Disney’s classic fantasy adventure film The Jungle Book, which returns to the big screen next week, is banking heavily on the love and familiarity that Indian audiences harbour towards the story. The live-action reboot of the 1967 classic will be released in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu, a week ahead of its US release on 15 April.
“The title of the film resonates strongly across generations. It’s such a widely told tale that everyone in the country not only loves it but has an emotional connect with it. As Indians, we take strong ownership of the story and that’s a great starting point," said Amrita Pandey, vice-president, studios at Disney India. “When the first look and teaser of the film was unveiled in December, it was clear that this was not a film just for kids. That was a really big part of the battle already won. Then we went on to do many more things just to make everyone aware that Jungle Book is back," Pandey added.
To be sure, the inherent love for The Jungle Book brand spilled over into Disney’s marketing efforts as did the fact that prolific actor and filmmaker Jon Favreau was in the director’s chair this time. But there was also a crucial need to activate the Hindi audience base separately. Since most of the film is based on computer-generated imagery, the only other way to lure this audience was through right voice casting.
“For all five (animal) characters—Bagheera, Shere Khan, Kaa, Raksha and King Louie—we made a wish-list of at least three people we wanted for every role (in the Hindi version). The first person that we went to for each of the characters—from Shefali Shah to Priyanka Chopra to Om Puri to Nana Patekar—agreed to do it. And they’ve done such an amazing job. That was an important part of our marketing strategy—finding the right voice talent," Pandey said. For the English version, the voice cast includes Ben Kingsley and Scarlett Johansson.
Senior film writer Mayur Puri was signed up to write the dialogues. Besides, even the famous “Jungle jungle baat chali hai" song from the1990s Doordarshan version of The Jungle Book, written and composed by Gulzar and Vishal Bharadwaj, respectively, was revived. Meanwhile, lead child star Neel Sethi travelled to India to further familiarize Indian audiences with the film and the celebrity voice cast has been circulating recorded videos of their experience of bringing the world of The Jungle Book alive.
Disney has also collaborated with brand partners across categories like apparel, stationary, accessories and publishing. These include juice brand Fruit Shoot, milk supplement Heinz Complan, ICICI Bank, fashion portal Myntra, retail chain Shoppers Stop, fashion brand Max Fashion India, publishing company Penguin Random House and stationery brand SKI. The licensing and merchandising deal means that Jungle Book-inspired art and characters will appear on customized ICICI debit cards, Complan boxes and other products.
To be sure, their marketing efforts have paid off. “Disney has done a fantastic job of marketing the film both for people already aware of the story and characters of The Jungle Book and today’s generation that may not be familiar with it," said Kamal Gianchandani, chief executive officer, PVR Pictures. “The film is bound to open well."
The studio also insists the early release in India is justified by how dear the tale is to the country.
“The first week of April is when most schools start going into summer vacation and so for us, it was a good time. Also, 8 April is a holiday for some parts of Maharashtra because of Gudi Padwa," said Pandey. “There were lots of other reasons but we mainly wanted India to be the first country to watch the film. We can’t make people wait for it."
Business reasons aside, the most positive association that The Jungle Book thrives on is one of nostalgic value, just like most films that carry forward such legacies.
“There is an immediate connection between characters and potential audiences," said Gianchandani. “It’s the way a sequel works. The story is so well-accepted that it creates a social impact. Those who are familiar with it will obviously watch it. Those who aren’t, don’t want to be left out of conversations on popular subjects and so will go for sure."
The Jungle Book is estimated to release in around 1,500 screens in India, though the final count is still to be locked in.
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