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We all know what a gem Rudyard Kipling has created with 'The Jungle Book'! And when someone take this gem and turn it into a precious diamond, you get this series!! Whoever has watched this series in their childhood, I am sure they will have at least one good memory to share. Watching this again at the age of 28 makes me yearn to go back to those early childhood days. So much pain, agony, innocence, fun, lessons, laughter, celebration, sadness, love, cuteness have been poured into this series that it's impossible to get out of the magical jungle world it created. If Rudyard Kipling would have seen this series, he definitely would have changed his story to adapt the series.

Coming to the technical aspects, this series is flawless in all its aspects. The Direction, Storytelling, Script, Music, Editing, Animation all are above par. The visual animation has ability to touch you deeply. Music is soulful. Story and script for each episode are so well thought and written that inner child of yours grows with each episode. 'As Mowgli learns the law of Jungle, we learn the way of life', and this I think is the greatest teaching anyone can get from a book - in this case 'The Jungle Book'.

I am not sure how well versed a director must be to adapt a foreign story of a foreign land about foreign characters, this much relevantly. Being an Indian, I was always able to relate myself with each of its characters. The trees, animals, houses, caves, temples were all very familiar looking and it was not until 22, I learned that the original series was made in Japanese and we watched the dubbed version of it. The first question which arose in mind then was 'how can someone depict our culture so much aptly, that no one can ever raise a question of its authenticity?' We Indians still treat this as an Indian series. Of course the credit also goes to opening song composed by Vishal Bhardwaj sir and the jaunty lyrics by Gulzar sir which never drops off your tongue. Who can also forget Nana Patekar sir's versatile voice talent as Shere Khan.

If there is a word to describe this series it would be 'true'. It remains true to it story, it's characters, it's art and it's audience. And that's why people love this show and it will remain etched forever in their hearts.

The movie is very well researched and smartly written. The committee discussions remind you of the time when you first watched '12 Angry Men'. The ensemble cast is strong and all the actors have done outstanding job on their part especially Mithun-da and Naseer sir. The lead actress Shweta Basu Prasad is also remarkable and delivers powerful performance. The dialogues are witty, impactful and forward the story ahead without revealing what is going to come next. If also, you know the mysteries and conspiracies behind Shastriji's death, the film is not limiting itself to those theories. I bet you will find a lot more in the film than you went looking for. The film follows a tight narrative and doesn't let audience slip in the gulp of their coke.

What works for the movie, also makes it a bit stretched. Film would have been a lot more gripping and interesting if it had only confined itself to committee discussions. But involving a backstory of the lead actress, toil she went through during the investigation, tracking a dead spy in Russia are some scenes which are either unnecessary or unrealistic. And this is very much necessary that when you are making a political film which is bound to be a controversial one, you don't want your audience to wonder from reality to fantasy, where they feel somewhat dejected.

The film gives equal opportunity to every character to present their case. As India's first crowd-sourced movie, it surely uplifts your expectation and it does fulfill it up to one level, but it fails in exceeding that bar. Powerful 2nd half does satisfy your belly over the half baked first half. Direction, music, camerawork are all up to the mark. Overall, it is anytime better than the usual 'masala crap' we are projected with.

I would have given it 8/10 only if the first half could have been better. My rating is 7/10. A well intended film by Vivek Agnihotri sir. I was able to feel the hardships and turmoil the team must have went through during this venture; start from researching it and to the date it got released.

And remember guys, it is easy to be a propogand-ic filmmaker than to be a truth-seeker. See the film and decide by yourself which one is Vivek-sir.