The teaser of Disney's "The Jungle Book", which was released recently, has already been garnering rave reviews. Directed by Jon Favreau, the new take on Rudyard Kipling's classic tale, features Neel Sethi playing the role of Mowgli, the central character in the movie.
Who is Neel Sethi?
11-year-old Sethi is an elementary school student based-out of New York. The movie will mark his debut as an actor.
The Indian-American will be the only actor to be seen on screen in the movie. The others will voice the computer-generated characters.
According to Variety, Sethi was chosen from among thousands of children who had auditioned for the part in the movie in the United States, the UK, New Zealand and Canada.
Image source: Neel Sethi/Twitter
The report quotes director Favreau saying in a statement that “Neel has tremendous talent and charisma. There is a lot riding on his little shoulders and I’m confident he can handle it.”
Casting director Sarah Finn told Variety that Sethi had “the heart, humor, and daring of the character. He’s warm and accessible, yet also has an 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 is already rubbing shoulders with the who's who of Hollywood.
What an honor!! #jjabrams #StarWars #D23Expo2015 #JungleBook pic.twitter.com/yQP00qP5ON
— Neel Sethi (@TheNeelSethi) August 19, 2015
Premier Screening!! #SirBenKingsley #LearningToDrive #Daddyji #grandpa pic.twitter.com/u7g3jjsfO2
— Neel Sethi (@TheNeelSethi) August 19, 2015
Greenroom Selfies! #ChrisEvans #CaptainAmerica #CaptainAmericaCivilWar pic.twitter.com/dKGhQE3scZ
— Neel Sethi (@TheNeelSethi) August 19, 2015“The Jungle Book” is supported by Scarlett Johansson (Kaa the python), Ben Kingsley (Bagheera the panther), Idris Elba (Sher Khan the tiger), Bill Murray (Bhaloo the bear), Christopher Walken (King Louie the orangutan), and Lupita Nyong'o (Raksha the mother wolf).
The film is scheduled for an April 15, 2016 release in the US.