What enters your mind when you think of #elephants, #forest, #friendship, and #martial arts? "Ong-Bak: Muoy Thai Warrior" movie, isn't it? This movie was a compelling story of a Muoy Thai expert and his divine bonding with his elephant. The film #Junglee directed by Chuck Russell (who has directed Hollywood movies like the Mask, Eraser, and the Scorpion King) traverses on the similar lines as Ong-Bak; however, it fails to enlighten the spirit of friendship, love, sacrifice, or revenge which was captured brilliantly in the film "Ong-Bak" .
Raj (Vidyut Jammwal), a veterinary doctor working in Mumbai, comes to his native place after 10 years on the occasion of his mother's death anniversary. His relationship with his dad (Thalaivasal Vijay) is a bit strained as Raj holds him partially responsible for his mom's death. The #elephant sanctuary run by his dad is in need of donations to run the proceedings.
Raj has two childhood friends, namely Shankara (Pooja Sawant) and Dev (Akshay Oberoi). Shankara operates as a female mahout whereas Dev is a forest ranger. We also have a female journalist Meera (Asha Bhatt) who has accompanied Raj to write a story on the functioning of the sanctuary. Bhola (the elephant with massive tusks) is Raj's best friend. Bhola, who was very young when Raj had left the village, is now the leader of the elephant herd. Both Bhola and Raj's affection for each other is unchanged even years after they meet. Dev’s father, Gajaguru (Makarand Deshpande), is an aging #Kalaripayathu (Indian martial arts) teacher who has got addicted to alcoholism. In fact, Gajaguru is the one who has taught the skills of #Kalaripayathu to both Raj and Dev.
Within the first 45 minutes of the film, you start getting weary of all the cliché goody things happening before you. Just as you start anticipating that you are missing something, the villain appears. The villain in this case is an astute hunter (Atul Kulkarni) who is hired by a foreign national to capture the long tusks of Bhola.
Is the hunter successful in acquiring the tusks of Bhola? Could the caretakers of the elephant sanctuary protect their elephants? Is the system established by the government to uphold the rights of animals having loopholes? Are the poachers successful in transporting the tusks away from the forest for trading?
The answers to all these questions form the crux of the second half. Unfortunately, the movie narrative is painstakingly slow and predictable. Vidyut Jammwal is bang on with respect to his stunts. However, we have already seen Vidyut hitting 3 people at once, Vidyut jumping through narrow openings, Vidyut doing his trademark flip, Vidyut welding a stick and rotating it, Vidyut coiling around a person and recoiling again to drop him down, and Vidyut beating the hell out of a gang of villains in his previous movies. In fact, several situations seemed to be created in the movie only to highlight Vidyut's excellence in #Kalaripayathu.
The primary issue with the plot of Junglee is that it has nothing innovative or new to offer. It is a standard revenge drama with an anti-poaching message. The cast of the film has done an average job as far as depicting emotions is concerned. None of the characters manage to tug your heart. The solitary portion of the movie that manages to capture your attention is the pre-intermission massacre scene; however, even this scene loses its essence due to the plastic expressions of the lead cast. In a particular scene when Raj is lying on the ground with a bullet in his chest, he visualizes a CGI-endowed version of Lord Ganesha talking to him and encouraging him to get up and fight. This scene seemed as if we are watching the movie “My Friend Ganesha.” Vidyut, akin to Arjun Rampal, carries the same expression in all the scenes throughout the movie. As far as acting is concerned, the only saving grace in the film was Atul Kulkarni. The veteran Maharashtrian actor tried his best to get into the skin of his character.
The elephants in Junglee are #enormous, #majestic, and #lovable. The cinematography of the movie is excellent. Jubin Nautiyal’s "Fakira Ghar Aaja" is surprisingly hummable.
The fighting sequences towards the end of the movie are intensely comical. The setup of the warehouse takes you back in the yesteryears of Bollywood when the villain and his men used to tie up the family members/heroine amidst big containers and the hero used to perform acrobatic stunts to free his loved ones. You merely wish that Vidyut finishes up the formalities fast so that you can exit the theater as soon as possible.
Our verdict:
Junglee should better be marketed as a children’s film if it aims to recover at least the amount involved in the making of the film. You can certainly skip watching this movie in theatre. There are heavy chances you might not even like seeing it on the small screen when it makes a world television premiere. This film is one of Vidyut’s most average movies.
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Our Rating: 2.0/5.0
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Director: #ChuckRussell
Writers: #AdamPrince (screenplay), #ChuckRussell, #RiteshShah (story)
Stars: #VidyutJammwal, #AshaBhat, #VishwanathChatterjee, #MakrandDeshpande, #AtulKulkarni, #AkshayOberoi, #DineshRajpurohit, #RahulVermaRajput, #PoojaSawant, #ThalaivasalVijay
Genres: #Action | #Adventure | #Thriller
Release Date: 29th March 2019
Run-time: 1:55 Hrs
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