Nana Patekar reveals he initially agreed to play Sher Khan for money

Nana Patekar, who has lent his bass voice to the character of Sher Khan in the new live-action ‘Jungle Book’, reminisced about the good old days when he voiced the same character for the popular kid’s TV show. The actor, who etched a place in television history, by dubbing for the character, will take the villainous tiger to the big screen, in the Hindi dubbed film.

Back in the early 90’s, Nana had lent his voice to the tiger in the animated series, ‘Jungle Book: The Adventures of Mowgli’ that was aired on Doordarshan. The animated series became a hit among kids of the time, until it went off air a few years later.

Talking about playing Sher Khan, Nana says, "The first time I had played the role years back and I wish to be young again. That time, the movie was released by NFDC and Ravi Malik asked me whether I would play a part in the movie and I simply said yes! Why not? Since, I did not have enough money that time, it did play a very important role. I was rewarded with some Rs 3000 to 5000. But this time, money wasn't an issue, I just wanted to reminisce my good old days. I am happy about it."

Nana along with a star studded cast of Priyanka Chopra, Irrfan Khan, Om Puri and Shefali Shah, have lent their voice to Disney’s ‘The Jungle Book’. The film, which holds a lot of nostalgic value to Indian audience, will release in Hindi and Tamil. Termed as one of the most-anticipated films in recent times, is just a week away from its big April 8 release.