Junglee Movie Review: Chuck Russell's Bollywood directorial debut with Vidyut Jammwal falls flat

Chuck Russell who earlier gave us hit Hollywood movies such as The Mask and The Scorpion King is here with his first Indian flick Junglee. The movie stars Vidyut Jammwal in the titular role. Read on to know the full review of the movie.

By Nikita Roy

Updated on Mar 29, 2019 | 04:13 PM IST | 1.6M

Junglee Movie Review Chuck Russell's Bollywood directorial debut with Vidyut Jammwal falls flat

Movie: Junglee

Director: Chuck Russell

Cast: Vidyut Jammwal, Pooja Sawant, Asha Bhat

Junglee Movie Stars: 2/5

Chuck Russell who gave a cult movie like The Mask seemed less ambitious and quite satisfied with screenplay and story of Junglee. So, if you are thinking you may get a Hollywood movie's feel, then you are wrong. Junglee is a story about a Raj Nair who is a vet by profession. He visits his father’s elephant reserve after 10 years and reunites with his childhood friends including Bhola, the elephant. After reaching Chandrika elephant sanctuary, he comes to know about the international poachers racket and fights them to save his elephants.

The major setback of this action drama is the clichéd treatment by the director. Talking about the plot, the writers didn't try their best to weave a narrative to make the same interesting.

Coming to the performances, Vidyut Jammwal as new age Tarzan failed to lift the movie. I was expecting a lot from Vidyut, but he disappointed at many levels including how his character was mostly disconnected with other characters.

The movie features seasoned artists like Atul Kulkarni and Makrand Deshpande, but their acting chops went in vain. Their acting was below par in the movie and couldn't cover the movie's flaws. Talking about Atul Kulkarni as a villain who can do cold-blooded murders, he was not at all convincing. I think, he should hardly play a baddie in future. On the other hand, Makrand's scenes were few and his character was also written lazily.

Newbie Pooja Sawant impressed us with her acting skills, but Asha Bhat as a journalist who keeps recording everything was too fictitious and seemed like a forced addition in the movie.

The only saving grace were Vidyut's impeccable action scenes. The stunt choreography was executed perfectly. The film did well to call out the poachers and crooks who kill elephants in order to get tusks to make ivory products, but in terms of entertainment, it failed to deliver a great action drama. So, if you are Vidyut's fan or an action or animal lover then yes you can enjoy this movie over the weekend.