'The Jungle Book' gets over Rs.10 crore opening in India

Mumbai: It was a good start for Disney's “The Jungle Book”, which brings the story of a young boy straight out of an Indian jungle, with the film raking in over Rs.10 crore ($1.5 million) nett on the opening day itself in India.

The English and Hindi versions of the film released on Friday, and between them brought in Rs.10.09 crore, according to a statement on behalf of the makers. Trade analyst Taran Adarsh said the movie has opened to an "awesome" and "super" response. "What's incredible is that 'The Jungle Book' is the second highest opener of 2016 *so far*, after 'Airlift'. Surpassing Bollywood + Hollywood biggies," Adarsh tweeted. Helmed by "Iron Man" fame director Jon Favreau, the film brings a story straight from the enchanting forest of India and presents a modern take on Rudyard Kipling's timeless classic, originally published in 1894. The film, with Indian-American actor Neel Sethi as Mowgli, made its way into the screens in Indian a week ahead of its release in the US. Along with Neel, the film is supported by Bill Murray, Ben Kingsley, Idris Elba, Lupita Nyong'o, Scarlett Johansson and Christopher Walken. And Bollywood stars of the likes of Irrfan Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Nana Patekar, Shefali Shah and Om Puri joined “The Jungle Book” gang for the Hindi version.