THE LION KING

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It’s only fair; I compare this film to Aladdin. I liked Aladdin better and Skip, The Lion King (his reason being cute Simba). The visual effects though are far, far superior in the Lion King. I was captivated in the first 5 minutes. The Lion King is a live action film with photo-realistic animals. The intricate details of the flora, followed by the appearance of lifelike animals would in the words of R3 (my cousin sista) give you a realistic experience of being on a safari. In certain scenes that pan across the forest landscape, if you observe carefully, you can even spot tiny balls of seed hair fibres floating in the air.  If you thought The Jungle Book was impressive (which also happens to be directed by Jon Favreau, the director of The Lion King), be prepared to be blown away with the graphics in this film. The characters have been rendered digitally using photo and video references of real animals.

In case you’re wondering who Jon Favreau is (tsk tsk). Here’s a picture of him, do you recognise him?

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If you're Happy and you know it clap your hands!

Following the footsteps of Aladdin in being inclusive and racially diverse, the live action film seeks to undo the criticism faced by its predecessor of having an all white cast. Here’s the list of the voice cast:

Young Simba – JD McCrary

Simba- Donald Glover (more popularly known as Childish Gambino)

Mufasa – James Earl Jones ( who voiced Mufasa in the animated film as well)

Nala- Beyonce

Timon – Billy Eichner

Pumbaa – Seth Rogen

Scar – Chiwetel Ejiofor

Zazu- John Oliver

Shenzi – Florence Kasumba

The actors were a perfect fit as the voice-overs considering the film is set in Africa. I particularly liked Timon and Shenzi. Timon is hilarious and Shenzi gave us all the chills.

I’m glad that they retained certain iconic scenes from the animated film and it was refreshing to see them in live action.

It is a film that can be enjoyed by both adults and children, alike. A word of caution for parents with younger children: children who aren’t used to non-animated films or those younger than 5 may find the film a bit frightening.

The film features songs from the original soundtrack plus a few new songs and ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight’ which had us all humming and singing along (thank you subtitles).

As in all Disney films, this film too had its share of inspiring messages for all. Here are some of my favourite quotes from the film:

“Everybody is Somebody, even a Nobody”. - Rafiki

“To change the past is a big order, but you can change the future”. – Timon

“I may run from Hyenas but I always fight a bully”. – Pumbaa

A must watch film and one to be watched in the theatres.

A question for all you Disney fans – Do you prefer the original animated films or the present live action ones?

While I enjoyed watching the animated films as a child, it’s nice and refreshing to see the same being recreated as live action and more so as the creators haven’t diverted much from the original script and storyline.

And now repeat after me – “Hakuna Matata”

Skip manages to keep himself entertained on most days. But on some days (days when I'm too tired to even move a muscle), he decides he needs his mommy dearest to play with him and that's when we try our hand at Origami (courtesy YouTube videos)

ALADDIN- A MAGICAL TREAT

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The year was 1996. We had been invited over to our neighbour’s house for dinner.  Raucous kids were getting in the way of adult’s (boring) chatter and our game of indoor hide and seek came to a halt with us being shooed into a bedroom and being asked to quietly watch a cartoon film. It was Aladdin. It was the first animated movie I’d ever watched and I remember being completely mesmerised by it. Soon, it was time to leave and the movie hadn’t finished. The next day, I asked my mother to borrow the cassette from Madhu Aunty and I watched the movie twice before we returned the cassette. That year, I secretly hoped for an Aladdin cassette to be magically dropped off at our doorstep.

I watched the movie next, two weeks ago when I had recorded it for Skip. A hilarious genie, a flying carpet, a tiger and a monkey for a pet and a whole lot of magic – What’s not to love in the movie and though I’m not one much for musicals, I loved the songs in Aladdin. However, surprisingly, when I saw the trailers for the live action movie, I didn’t feel like watching the movie until I began receiving messages about how good the movie was and that I should take Skip for it. After postponing the plan by two weeks, I finally got about to watching the movie.

I LOVED IT! LOVED IT, LOVED IT.

I am going to skip the plot, we all know the story of Aladdin and the magic lamp and the three wishes.

Here’s why I loved the movie:

1.  The film is directed by Guy Ritchie (Sherlock Holmes, The Man from U.N.C.L.E, Snatch, Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels). I enjoy his films and was curious to watch a musical fantasy directed by him. Correct me if I’m wrong but I think this is the first in this genre of films that he has directed. Though I did read that film critics haven’t appreciated his direction.

2.    I wasn’t too enthusiastic about watching Will Smith play the role of Genie. In fact, when he made his first appearance on screen, I almost shouted “we miss you Robin Williams” but Skip was already squirming as I was singing the songs out aloud and I didn’t want to embarrass him further. What a brilliant portrayal of Genie by Will Smith! He has brought his hip-hop swag to the role and is hilarious. I almost felt disloyal to Williams as I had a big grin on each time Smith appeared on screen.

3.    Disney has cast culturally appropriate actors. (Well, almost...) Mena Massoud plays the role of Aladdin and while Naomi Scott (Jasmine) is not Middle Eastern (She’s British Indian. Woo Hoo Indian !), atleast they didn’t whitewash the film . (Remember Scarlett Johansson portrayed a Japanese girl in Ghost in the Shell). When Massoud is turned into a Prince by Genie and he makes his grand entrance to the song, Prince Ali, he looks exactly like the animated version of Aladdin. The film also does away with religious stereotypes that were portrayed in the earlier film.

4.   The actors are a treat to watch. While Smith, Massoud and Scott have been receiving accolades for their acting, I must also mention Marwan Kenzari (who plays Jafar ) and Nasim Pedrad ( who plays Dalia, a handmaiden to Princess Jasmine).

5.  The set is grand, larger than life and colourful. The costumes are appealing. Some scenes reminded me of Sanjay Leela Bansali’s grandiose setting especially the ones that involved dancing.

6.      Princess Jasmine is a sassy rebel; she’s outspoken and doesn’t need a knight in shining armour to rescue her. In short, she’s not your typical Disney princess. Feminists, rejoice.

7.   Take a deep breath, Disney purists; there are some differences between the animated and the live action film. A new character has been introduced in Dalia, handmaiden to Princess Jasmine, Genie has a love interest and Jasmine gets to become the Sultan.

8.    The film sends important messages to children about honesty, being true to oneself, the power of friendship etc.

Aladdin is the 4^th highest grossing film of 2019 and has passed the original at the Box Office.  Go watch it! It’s a ‘feel-good’ movie. It has magic, music, dance, romance, drama, action. It’s a Bollywood film with great CGI effects.