The Jungle Book: On Top of the Pack

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Along the way he also discovered Mowgli and he were a lot similar. “We are both stubborn, free-spirited and, when we put our minds to something, we try to get it no matter what,” says Sethi, who visited Mumbai recently to promote the film.

A couple of years ago, his bhangra teacher suggested that Sethi audition for the role. During the audition, he enacted some lines of Mowgli, in which he is talking to Baloo. He showed off some karate moves, too, and pretended to play tennis. He realised the importance of being Mowgli only when he found out that some 2,000 children had auditioned for the role. About Sethi’s selection, Favreau said in a statement: “Everything in this movie is geared towards the performance of this one kid. I’ve worked with enough kids to be confident in my own taste and my ability to get the performance. He was just so real. He felt right.”

The process of filming was very different for The Jungle Book. The scenes with Sethi were shot against blue and green backdrops. The jungles and animals were added later using CGI. “Shooting was a lot of fun. It was my first time. I just went along with what everybody said on the sets,” says Sethi. According to him, it is Favreau, director of Iron Man and Iron Man 2, who made the experience really easy for him. “Jon was really funny. He made everything perfect. Sometimes, he acted with me and played with me,” says Sethi, who was 10 when he shot for the film.

The impressive part of the filmmaking, for him, is how a jump he made in the studio from one point to another is made to look like a 400 ft plunge on the big screen. These action sequences are what he enjoyed the most when he watched the movie for the first time at a Chicago screening last month. He was trained in parkour to make all the running, jumping and climbing scenes believable. The most difficult part for him were the scenes with mud. “When the mud used to dry on my skin, they would sprinkle water on it to make it look real. It was cold and yucky,” says Sethi, who is seen in a red loincloth throughout the movie. His wild mop, however, were hair extensions.

Dubbing was a wonderful experience and Sethi had a chance to meet some big Hollywood actors. “I did lines with Bill Murray, Ben Kingsley and Christopher Walken. I did not meet Scarlett Johansson, who is the voice of Kaa, during dubbing but we did a photoshoot later,” he says. Sethi admits to being a bit nervous before dubbing with these popular actors. “I tried to act cool, like it is a normal thing,” he says, singling out Baloo as his favourite among the animals Mowgli befriends in the jungle.

At home, Sethi does not get any special treatment. His routine on a regular day — wake up, go to school, and play with friends. He says his 18-year-old college-going sister often beats him during their mock fights. Since she is very athletic, whenever she is home on a holiday, they end up playing a lot of sports.

After The Jungle Book, Sethi wants to act in more movies though no projects are finalised yet. He also wants to go for higher studies as well as pursue acting. Had he not been cast as Mowgli, Sethi says he would have ended up as a “dentist”, following in his parents’ footsteps.