The King of Bollywood voices for The Lion King…

The Lion King released in 1994 has got a remake and looks like it has caught everyone’s eyes.  The attachment with Simba, the admiration for Mufasa and the dislike for Scar, the emotions that made The Lion King what it was, all is ready to be seen after 25 years in the theatre once again. One of the most impressive things about its teaser is the amazing visuals, not to mention everyone’s excitement in meeting the Lion King characters, such as Nala and Simba, once more.

The Hindi version of Lion King sees Shah Rukh Khan, Aryan Khan, Ashish Vidyarthi, Sanjay Mishra, Shreyas Talpade, Shernaz Patel and many others stepping in to voice the iconic characters.

Everything feels extremely real. Even the smallest of details, from the characters to the jungle has been taken care of, whether it’s a spider spinning its web during the talks between small Simba and Nala or the ants displaying teamwork while showing the beauty of the Jungle. Being a proper remake, the makers have chosen not to mess with the script. Mufasa, the king of the jungle dies in an accident conspired by his brother Scar with the help of a group of hyenas. Simba, the rightful heir to the throne now, is scared by Scar and runs for his life from the Hyenas. He escapes and begins a new life in a faraway Jungle with Timon and Pumbaa. Nala accidentally finds him and he sets to avenge his father’s death and free Jungle from the evil rule of Scar and hyenas.

The voice for Mufasa is to be given by Shah Rukh Khan, the ‘king’ of Bollywood, and his son Aryan Khan is voicing Simba. Even though Aryan’s Simba doesn’t have that much time so to say, it continues to be impressive throughout. While Asish Vidyarthi as Scar, Shernaz Patel as Sarabi, Neha Gargava as Nala and Achint Kaur as Shenzi, Shreyas Talpade as Timon, Sanjay Mishra as Pumbaa and Asrani’s as Zuzu do justice to their respective parts have truly elevated their characters with their voice, modulation, and delivery, it’s SRK’s Mufasa that doesn’t quite move you at all times. There’s wisdom in his voice, but one doesn’t truly feel the command of a king. The laughter, too, doesn’t feel as authentic. Not sure if it’s right to say, but while Aryan does sound similar to Shah Rukh, he also sounds more impressive than him.

Though the movie is an attempt to reproduce the nostalgia of 1994, there’s a lot in the movie one might not go with. For the pursuit of realism, the expressions and the idea of characters emoting themselves in a  way, which was one of the main strengths of the original fades away. Also, the more real-life looking look and feel of the animals makes them devoid of the distinguishing features that the original boasts of. Like, this Scar doesn’t quite look like its exalted self but just a starved old lion.
For the ones, who have watched the original, don’t go with too many emotional expectations. But despite it, it’s worth watching, because nostalgia does play its part.  

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