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Delhi Safari
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Wikipedia article
'Delhi Safari' (also known as 'Jungle Safari') is a 2012 Indian computer-animated musical comedy film written and directed by Nikkhil Advani. The film traces the journey of five animals from Mumbai to Delhi as they struggle against an oppressive regime.[http://www.indiafm.com/news/2008/01/15/10736/ 'Ab Dilli Door Nahin'] It has been produced by Krayon Pictures (a Pune-based 3D animation studio). Based on a story and concept by Advani, the film's Hindi-language version features the voices of Akshaye Khanna, Govinda, Suniel Shetty, Boman Irani and Urmila Matondkar. The screenplay of the film is written by Girish Dhamija and Suresh Nair. The music of the film is composed by ShankarEhsaanLoy, while the lyrics are penned by Sameer. It is India's first stereoscopic 3D animation feature film. The film released in India on 19 October 2012. Delhi Safari has been granted exemption from entertainment tax in the states of Maharashtra and Delhi. At the 60th National Film Awards, it won the National Film Award for Best Animated Film. The English-language version of the film has voices by Tom Kenny, Carlos Alazraqui, Jason Alexander, Cary Elwes, Tara Strong, Christopher Lloyd, Jane Lynch, Vanessa Williams and Brad Garrett. The international sales of the film is being handled by Fantastic Films International. The film was released in the United States on 7 December 2012.
Plot
The film starts with Yuvraj (or 'Yuvi', for short) saying that he lost his father, Sultan in the morning, but doesn't want to lose his home at any cost. The film carries a flashback of the morning with Yuvi and Sultan playing in the forest and Sultan teaching self-defence to Yuvi while his mother, Begum, enters. The two mock her for her overly caring attitude towards son that gets her angry and she leaves. Soon, Begum forgives Sultan and Yuvraj. However, while coming back, a whole pack of bulldozers come from nowhere and proceed to demolish the surrounding jungle. Begum manages to escape, but Yuvi and Sultan are trapped. The two land at a site in the forest where they see all the trees missing. In a bid to save Yuvi, Sultan catches Yuvi in his mouth and tosses him to Begum. However, he himself is killed by a human wielding a shotgun, making the whole forest a large enemy of the humans. A talk happens with attendants of all the animals in the area. Many believe that leaving their homes is the only way to survive; however, Bajrangi, a monkey, says that he would beat out the wits of those men with his so-called '"vanarsena"' - Marela and Bharela, but Bagga the bear advises him to talk to humans and Bajrangi asks whether there is anyone who knows the language of humans. A white bird, seemingly a pigeon, Hawa Hawaai pipes up, saying he knows someone who knows both animal and human languages. Yuvi meets the white bird the next day, and asks who is the one he said about. The white bird says the animal he spoke of is Alex, a parrot who lives with a director, Vikram Khosla. Bajrangi, his "army" of two monkeys, Hawa Hawaai, Bagga, and Yuvi go and kidnap the parrot and convince him to go to Delhi with them to talk to the parliament and save their land. Initially refusing, Alex agrees to go to Delhi. Begum, Bagga, Bajrangi, and his army board a train to Delhi from Mumbai. Yuvi joins them after some time. They then reach Gujarat with guidance from Raju, a bat. In Gujarat, they meet flamingos and a couple who gives them shelter in their homes. One of the flamingos strictly advises them not to cross the banyan tree to avoid the wolf Kaalia and his gang. However, Bajrangi goes there and ties Alex for Kaalia to kill him so that no one can doubt him. Yuvi spots Bajrangi and confronts him but they are spotted by Kaalia. Begum arrives in time to save them.
After this incident, Alex pretends to have lost his voice. The animals consult a doctor who prescribes some ayurvedic medicines to recover Alex's voice, claiming that he has hypertension, stress, and high blood pressure. Bajrangi wholeheartedly does the hard work, sometimes getting injured. One day, he discovers that Alex was just pretending and chases him, inadvertently hitting a beehive. All the animals run with bees chasing them. A thrilling experience of trains follows after Bajrangi tells Alex how guilty he feels of thinking to kill him. Alex also realizes how selfish he was and decides to help he animals. Begum tells that no one is going to Delhi after listening to a tiger's story of how he only survived death at a human's hands by being a coward and forsaking his old ways; thankfully, following a pep talk and seeing Sultan's spirit and Yuvi who inspires them, Begum changes her mind and with renewed hope, proceeds to Delhi. They finally reach Delhi and tell their message through Alex to the Prime Minister of the country that they want peace between humans and animals and how Yuvi inspired all of them to go to Delhi despite all the incidents. In the last scene, it is shown the jungle is saved courtesy of a shared land act (with the area being called the "Sanjay Gandhi National Park-Borivali") and all are happy and settled. The film ends with all animals settled in the Jungle with Yuvi seeing his father's spirit and Begum happy.
Cast
Hindi Version
* Govinda as Bajrangi the Monkey* Akshaye Khanna as Alex the Parrot
* Boman Irani as Bagga the Bear
* Urmila Matondkar as the Begum the Mother Leopard
* Suniel Shetty as Sultan the Leopard
* Swini Khara as Yuvraj the Cub Leopard
* Prem Chopra as Kaalia the hyena
* Deepak Dobriyal as Hawa Hawai the pigeon
* Sanjay Mishra as Marela
* Saurabh Shukla as Bharela
* Rajesh Kava as Male Flamingo, hyena cook, and Raju Guide
* Akhil Mishra as the tiger
English Version
* Carlos Alazraqui as Bajrangi the Monkey* Tom Kenny as Alex the Parrot
* Brad Garrett as Bagga the Bear
* Vanessa Williams as Begum the Mother Leopard
* Cary Elwes as Bee Commander/Sultan the Father Leopard
* Tara Strong as Yuvi the Leopard Cub
* Jason Alexander as Male Flamingo/Hyena Cook
* Christopher Lloyd as Pigeon
* Jane Lynch as Female Flamingo
* Brian George as Bat
* Roger Craig Smith as Bharela/Marela
* JB Blanc as The Director/Prime Minister
* Dave Wittenberg as Kalia the Hyena Leader
* Troy Baker as Tiger
* GK Bowes as News Reporter #1
* Kate Higgins as Antelope
* Lex Lang as Hyena #1 / News Reporter #2
* Joe Ochman as Man / News Reporter #3
* Fred Tatasciore as Hyena #2
* Travis Willingham as Man in Shades
Release
Theatrical release
'Delhi Safari' was theatrically released in India on 19 October 2012.International releases
* France - 7 June 2012 (Annecy Animation Film Festival)* United States - 7 December 2012 (Applied Art Productions)
* South Korea - 21 February 2013
* Russia - 11 April 2013
* China - 5 September 2014 (Huaxia Film Distribution)
Home media
'Delhi Safari' was released on DVD in following countries* India - 18 June 2013 (Shemaroo Entertainment)
* Australia - 11 May 2014 (Roadshow Entertainment) (Released as Jungle Safari)
* UK - 30 June 2014 (Released as Jungle Safari)
* Sweden - 1 June 2015 (Released as Djungelsafari)
Reception
Critical response
was praised by critics for his performance.Times of India gave Delhi Safari 3 stars. Rohit Khilnani of rediff gave it 3.5 stars and called it a must watch. Multiple critics noted Delhi Safari's out-of-date and subpar animation. Some people noted that the character Alex the Parrot's lack of flight skills and fondness of the domesticated life was similar to the character Blu from Blue Sky Studios' 'Rio'. Others felt that the story of Yuvi's father's death and his later appearance as a ghost was ripping off the story of Simba from Disney's The Lion King. The film was also widely criticized for its unoriginal plot, many believing the "Animal road-trip" and "stop the humans" storylines to be too similar to Dreamwork's 'Madagascar' and Warner Brothers' 'Happy Feet,' respectively. Despite criticism, it was awarded National Film Award for Best Animated Film at the 60th National Film Awards with a citation "Animation and animal kingdom come together in showcasing the enormous significance of harmonious cohabitation of humans and nature. State-of the-Art Indian technology employed in this film should make us proud!".
Box office
The film grossed during its entire run in india. In the United States, it grossed $4,334 in 20 screens in its first weekend. The film was released in South Korea in 2013 where it grossed US$1.83 million and China in 2014 where its lifetime collection is US$1.27 millionAccolades
Delhi Safari qualified for the 2012 Oscars, and was listed in the "reminder list" for Best Picture, Best Animated Feature and Original Score.Soundtrack
Hindi
English
The title track was among shortlisted 75 songs which were contender for nominations in the Original Song category for the 85th Academy Awards.
Sequel
Krayon Pictures announced a sequel 'Beijing Safari' which they will co-produce with Chinese production house Heshan Media. Writer Tab Murphy, Oscar Nominee for 'Gorillas in the Mist' will write the film and Annie Award winner Daniel St. Pierre is set to direct the film. This will be an English language film with budget around $20 million
See also
*List of Indian animated feature films
References
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