Walt Disney’s The Jungle Book has become the highest-grossing Hollywood release ever in India, a country where 90% of the box office grosses go to films that are home grown. . After only 12 days in release in the country, the movie has grossed $24.6M
This release is the most recent example of Hollywood studios localizing content in India to increase audience share. The film was dubbed into Hindi, Tamil and Telugu, in addition to the English language version and was rolled out across 1,640 screens across the country.
“The Jungle Book was not just a big movie, but one that at its heart is an Indian story, which doesn’t happen very often. Most Indians have grown up on stories of The Jungle Book, and it is a beloved story that we want to pass on to generations,” Amrita Pandey VP, Studios, Disney India, told Variety.
For the Hindi version, Disney hired popular actors to voice characters with Priyanka Chopra (Quantico) performing Kaa, Irrfan Khan (Jurassic World) Baloo, Om Puri (The Hundred-Foot Journey) Bagheera, Shefali Shah (Monsoon Wedding) Raksha, and Nana Patekar (Welcome Back) Sher Khan.
“Each character was treated in a way that we included local cultural relevance in all the dialogue for each character. This has really paid off as the audience feedback on the Hindi language version has been exceptional,” Pandey said. “The dubbed contribution is a staggering 56% and English is 44%.”
