New Delhi: Disney’s Mufasa: The Lion King will roar in India’s Hindi belt—not least because it is voiced by SRK: The Bollywood King. In the latest promo for the film’s dubbed Hindi version, Shah Rukh Khan introduces the character he lends his voice to with an evocative punchline: “Yeh kahaani hai ek aise raja ki jise virasat ki roshni nahi, tanhaiyon ki virasat mili“—This is the story of a king who inherited not the light of legacy, but the inheritance of loneliness.
Not a word seems out of place when Khan says: “Zameen par toh kayi badshah hukumat karte aaye hain, par usne raaj kiya sabhi ke dilon par. Halat ki aandhiyon se utha ek sachha raja.” Many emperors have ruled the land, but he ruled over everyone’s hearts. A true king who rose from the storms of adversity.
If the viewer hadn’t already by now, Khan looks into the camera and draws attention to the link between the reel and the real, with his trademark dimpled smile and a blink-and-you-miss finger-pointing at himself: “Kaafi milti julti hai na yeh kahani”—quite similar, isn’t this story? It is a cheeky reminder that only King Khan was the ideal choice to voice this character. Who would disagree?
The video is captioned ’Ek Baadshah ki kahani, Baadshah ki zubaani,’ (The tale of a king narrated by the king). It’s a subtle nod to Shah Rukh’s own unparalleled reign in Indian cinema
Mufasa: The Lion King, a prequel that takes viewers through Mufasa’s rise to the throne, is already making waves in India. Shah Rukh Khan’s sons Aryan and AbRam will voice Simba and young Mufasa.
While the English trailer of the film came out in August, the Hindi-dubbed version was released last week. The film has also been dubbed in Tamil and Telugu
Much like Mufasa, Shah Rukh Khan’s journey to superstardom is marked by various challenges before he became King Khan. Born into a middle-class family in Delhi, he lost both parents at a young age, before moving to Mumbai to make it big in the film industry. His rise from obscurity to becoming the undisputed ‘Baadshah’ of Bollywood mirrors the ‘outsider and orphan’ Mufasa’s ascent to power in the Pride Lands.
Directed by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Barry Jenkins, Mufasa: The Lion King is set to release worldwide on 20 December.