Junglee

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Raj Nayar (Vidyut Jammwal), a veterinary doctor from Mumbai, visits his father after a long gap of ten years in their Chandrika elephant sanctuary (Odisha). Soon after, a ghastly attack on the elephants by a bunch of poachers, led by (Atul Kulkarni), changes his life forever.

Initially lured by the city life, Raj now decides to protect the gentle giants in the sanctuary, which has always been his father's dream. After a series of unfortunate events that happen in the reserve, Meera (debutante Asha Bhat), a journalist from Mumbai and Shankara (debutante Pooja Sawant), a mahout based in the sanctuary, also join Raj's mission of punishing the illegal hunters, who kill elephants for ivory.

Protect animals, save the elephants is the primary message that Junglee sends across and it does so in an action-packed way. The film also reiterates that if we pledge to stop buying ivory products, it will prevent poachers from indulging in this illegal trade. True to its theme, the film transports you to the calm of a jungle, away from your city, cell phones and chaos (shot in the beautiful locales of an elephant reserve in Thailand).

Known for Hollywood blockbusters like The Mask, The Scorpion King and Eraser, American director Chuck Russell makes his Hindi cinema debut with this one. His fascination for mythology, Hindu mantras, our martial arts like Kalaripayattu and Lord Ganpati is evident, given the Indian essence and exoticism he brings to the story.

While the film scores higher on action than emotion, Russell's attempt at blending the two with a social cause, stands out for a variety of reasons.

All the actors exude effortless comfort around the elephants, which is rare for an Indian film that revolves around animals. The last Indian film that captured the man-elephant camaraderie was Haathi Mere Saathi (1971), starring Rajesh Khanna.

The film's highlight, other than its fight against poachers who kill elephants for tusks, is Vidyut Jammwal's brilliance as one of our finest action heroes. His action is absolutely flawless and perhaps the best in the business. The jaw-dropping, lethal action scenes he portrays on screen and his mastery in martial arts puts him at par with the finest action heroes across the globe.

Action sequences that holds your attention and makes this film a paisa vasool entertainer, that is bound to attract families and children.

Such an adventurous and brave attempt is rare in Hindi cinema.

Average movie to be frankly speaking. Story is good and message is noble. Direction is good with poor screenplay. Performance wise Vidyut is excellent with his action,physique and dialogues. Female actors were well placed with their characters. Other characters like Atul and Makrand were below par with their potential. Overall worthy to watch.

After seen ' Junglee', I admit that Bollywood movie never reached at standard of Hollywood movie, even it directed by Hollywood director. Chuck Russell tried his best but he doesn't succeed to overcome from Bollywood saga. Yes, ' Junglee' is a typical Bollywood movie by Hollywood director Chuck Russel. There is nothing new in story. Movie is only watchable for Elephants and electrified action from Vidyut Jamawal. I thought that the movie would be same as 'The Protector' starring Tony Jaa, but it is far different. As me it could be made remake of it and could be better. Thanks to director / music director that there are no lazy boring love songs here. Acting by Vidyut is ok, but action is super. Leading lady is only for fill the gap of leading female. Atul Kulkarni is perfect but at last he looses his tempo and looks helpless. Vidyut's father is totally miscast. For such a martial artist son, father should be strong and impressive. Another miscast is Makrand Deshpande, the teacher should have perfect and believable. Direction neither is just okaying, not memorable nor twists side. As suggested by me just watch for elephants (especially for kids in their summer vacation) and Vidyut Jamawal's action. One more plus point is that the camerawork. It is excellent to catch the beauty of natures like mountains, woods, and lakes and of course about elephants too! A rare movie from Bollywood on elephants after ' Haathi Mere Saathi', Main aur mera Hathi and 'Sufed Hathi'. Good try...and best message that ' Love animals and love natures'.!!!

So basically a rip-off of Tony Jaa's Tom yum goong.

A great entertainment. Vidyut Jamwal was a treat to watch doing the ancient martial art form of Kerala. the Movie barely escaped from being a documentary.