The chaddiwearing Mowgli is not that innocent anymore and Sher Khan and other wild members of The Jungle Book family have also become fiercer. Going by the mood of a large section of the film’s audience in Patna, mostly kids who watched Jon Favreau’s 3D take on Rudyard Kipling’s classic, it seems the censor board’s U/A certificate for the movie is not completely unjustified.

Censor board chief Pahlaj Nihalani drew social media flak and many a snide comment for the U/A certificate given to the children’s film. Many equated it with cutting long kissing scenes from the James Bond film Spectre in November last year.

“In certain scenes due to the 3Deffects, it felt like the animals will jump onto the seat and, therefore, I can imagine what impact those special effects will have on little children,” Nihalani had told The Telegraph when asked about the rating. “Besides, are not kids supposed to be accompanied by parents or guardians when they go for rollercoaster rides?”

The U/A certificate does not prohibit children from watching the movie. It leaves the parents to decide whether or not to allow their children below age 12 to watch the movie. And children below 12 years can watch the film only with their parents.

“It’s just a 3D movie and my daughters had watched the trailer on television,” said Raju Verma, who runs a jewellery shop in the Khemnichak locality, after catching the film with his daughters aged 9 and 11. “If the movie would have been too scary, I would have not allowed them to watch it. Overall it was a good movie.”

While most parents seemed comfortable in taking their children to watch the film, a few gasped during a few scenes.

“I was personally a tad surprised when Mowgli encounters Kaa, the giant python. On a lighter note, even Mowgli is not as innocent as he was in the TV series back in the 1990s,” said Awadhesh Anand, a Patna man who works with a private firm in New Delhi, who watched The Jungle Book on Saturday with his wife and threeyearold daughter Aashi.

 

Theatre owners said the lifelike 3D effects in some of the scenes, including the chase sequences at the beginning or when Sher Khan tries to attack Mowgli, do elicit a few screams, but mostly of exclamation and not fear.

“The motive of 3D itself is to make the objects on the screen look realistic,” said Suman Kumar Sinha, chairman and managing director of Regent Theatre. “I remember people, including children, used to gasp while watching Jurassic Park as well. As The Jungle Book has got U/A certification we are ensuring the children should not watch the movie without their parents.”

Regent Cinema is running four shows of film, all in Hindi, which are running mostly houseful.

“The movie is attracting children in large numbers and we would continue running it even when Shah Rukh Khan’s Fan hits the screen next week,” said Suman.

The rush is similar at Cinepolis, which is running 10 shows of The Jungle Book daily — a 2D Hindi version, seven 3D Hindi versions and two 3D versions in English.

“We are witnessing around 90 per cent occupancy in most shows and people are enjoying the movie a lot,” said an executive at Cinepolis.

Vivek Thakur, (11), a Class V student at Doon Public School, Mithapur, said he loved the film.

“I enjoyed the movie a lot and for the first time I watched such a movie while wearing glasses. I did not find it scary — rather it was fun watching so many animals,” Vivek said.

There were other children, however, who said they were scared a few times and grabbed their parents out of instinct (See chart).

Citybased clinical psychologist Binda Singh felt there is no harm in watching movies like The Jungle Book if the child is willing.

“I have heard that most children are enjoying this movie. If the child is happy watching the movie then there are no adverse psychological impacts. The only thing parents should ensure is that the child should not be habituated to such advanced technology, otherwise s/he may not like the normal 2D movies,” Singh said.

The fright versus delight controversy apart, the film is also taking many adults down memory lane to when The Jungle Book would play on Doordarshan every Sunday in the ’90s.

“The Jungle Book reminds me of my childhood,” said Ravi Parmar, a citybased advocate. “I was in school when The Jungle Book used to come on DD. We used to do all the work early including taking bath and studying. It was my favourite among all the animation series back then.” 

 

 

 

“I haven’t watched The Jungle Book yet but I believe the whole idea behind a 3D movie is to make the audience feel that they are a part of it, as if the movie is going all around them. There are no physical barriers between the audience and the characters of the movie in 3D movies.”

— Shyam Benegal, eminent filmmaker

 

 

 

 

 

“I didn’t find any scene which could scare children. As far as the U/A certification is concerned, the movie has been given a PG (Parental Guidance) rating in the US as well. Besides, children in India have been watching movies like Harry Potter, which are also 3D and use similar graphics.”

— Pradeep Sarkar, writer and director