Mowgli Movie Review: Efforts don’t match up with ambition in this disappointing action-romance

It’s one of those conventional mass movie moments, towards the end of Mowgli — a fight sequence between the hero figure and a bad guy, one of antagonist’s many minions. Mowgli (Roshan Kanakala) is one step away from the villain. But after a decimating punch, the hero breaks down and says, “Let’s end this please.” He is tired of being this macho protector and on guard for just wanting to live his life in peace. It stays with you.

As hard as it might sound to trust a film critic right now, I like to see the positive intent of a filmmaker. And I believe Mowgli had an earnest ambition — a hero who was raised by the forest and knows its primates in and out, a villain figure who is too aware of his menace, a young girl who holds on to her father's souvenir shoes like her dear life. These are all good, interesting ideas on their own. And Sandeep Raj probably began on an optimistic and ambitious note — that throwing all these elements together will somehow work, and that he will figure out a way to crack a compelling narrative.

Cast: Roshan Kanakala, Sakkshi Mhadolkar, Harsha Chemudu, Bandi Saroj Kumar

Director: Sandeep Raj

Except it doesn’t. Very little lands in Mowgli — and the sad part is, there is no one inherent flaw at play. There are small cracks in the building throughout that lead to the crumbling down. Sandeep Raj is an interesting filmmaker, clearly eager to bring little changes in mainstream storytelling while staying within the familiar terrain. On one level, there is nothing too novel about the story at hand — it’s a classic template of a hero saving his beloved from all the bad guys around him. And yet, every once in a while, you find these little touches. In the early portions of the film, when the film is still about a young, bubblegum romance, the humour is gentle. The cinematography is exquisite. There is a genuine freshness to the chemistry between Roshan Kanakala and Sakkshi Mhadolkar, which only makes you yearn for more love stories on screen.

There are also these endearing nods to the classic melodrama of Indian cinema — an orphan who has had a tough life, a sentimental backstory about a loving father. But the scenes just don’t flow into each other. The edit is choppy. There is convenient use of flashbacks, just for the sake of building ‘gotcha’ moments. There is tonal mismatch throughout the narrative, further aided by the incorporation of ‘filler’ comic moments — a trope I thought we were way past, in 2025. (Suhas is a riot, though).

But most importantly, Mowgli goes for intense payoff moments without building the stakes prior to it. This is precisely why the film’s attempts to channel the mythological symbols fall flat. There is undoubtedly something very appealing about the idea of a hero who goes back to his roots — the forest — when in need for refuge, and fights from his home. But a combination of ineffectual scriptwriting and Roshan Kanakala’s amateur status as an actor ensures that none of it lands effectively. Bandi Saroj Kumar is adequate, and Sakshhi Mhadolkar shows promise intermittently, but is unfortunately saddled with a half-baked character.

There is also something very discomforting about the writers’ idea of using sexual abuse as a recurring element. The problem isn’t just with Mowgli staged as the male saviour who must protect the honour of his beloved. It’s also how the narrative consistently uses sexual abuse as a trope to move the plot forward. In a telling scene, our ‘hero figure’ makes light of another man’s sexual misconduct, asking the victims to ‘forgive and forget’ — a set-up that never gets a due payoff. 

A silver lining on the cloud comes in the form of Harsha Chemudu, who plays ‘Prabhas’ Bunty. On the surface, the comedian plays a role conventionally suited for him — the hero’s best friend brimming with dry wit and hilarious one-liners. But there are moments when his character steps out of that template, and those moments are the ones that get the loudest cheer out of us. It’s because the film reminds us of its ability to surprise us, like every potentially good film must. In its entirety, however, Mowgli is far from it, and for someone who made Colour Photo, this does come as a huge disappointment.