Voice of a family

Superstar Shah Rukh Khan and his son Aryan will be lending their voice for King Mufasa and his son Simba, respectively, in the Hindi version of Disney’s upcoming live-action film The Lion King.

“The Lion King is the one movie that my entire family loves. As a father, I can totally relate with Mufasa and the endearing relationship he shares with his son — Simba,” Shah Rukh said in a statement.

“The legacy of Lion King is timeless; and being a part of this iconic re-imagining with my son Aryan makes it extra special for me. We are most excited that AbRam is going to watch this,” he added.

The announcement comes a day after SRK took to Twitter to share a photograph of him and his son sporting blue cricket jerseys with their backs towards the camera. The Chennai Express star’s jersey read “Mufasa” and Aryan’s read “Simba”. Directed by The Jungle Book fame director Jon Favreau, The Lion King is one of the most-anticipated films of recent times.  

Original cut

The original film, considered an animation masterpiece, was released on June 15, 1994, and was not just widely lauded critically, but received commercial success as well. Favreau has stayed true to the classic story of Simba and used pioneering filmmaking techniques to bring the iconic characters to the big screen in a whole new way. The Lion King will release in India on July 19 in English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu. Donald Glover is leading the cast as young Lion Simba, while Beyonce, who is credited in the trailer with her last name, Knowles-Carter, voices Nala, a childhood friend and later love interest of Simba.

Glover and Knowles-Carter are also joined by James Earl Jones who reprises his role from the 1994 animated film as Simba’s father Mufasa, Chiwetel Ejiofor as Simba’s villainous uncle Scar, Alfre Woodard as Simba’s mother Sarabi, with child actor JD McCrary playing the young version of Simba.  — IANS