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Nana Patekar's Powerful Voice Immortalized Shere Khan in The Jungle Book

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News18•14-10-2026, 07:01
Nana Patekar's Powerful Voice Immortalized Shere Khan in The Jungle Book
- •Veteran actor Nana Patekar gave his iconic and powerful voice to the terrifying villain Shere Khan in the 90s hit animated series The Jungle Book.
- •Facing financial constraints during the early nineties, Nana agreed to do the Hindi dubbing for a modest remuneration of just 3,000 to 5,000 rupees.
- •Instead of loud yelling, Nana used his signature calm, slow, and spine-chilling rhythm to bring the animated tiger to life.
- •While neighborhood children were initially scared of him due to his intense film roles, they loved him once they learned he was Shere Khan.
- •Decades later in 2016, Nana returned to voice Shere Khan for the Hindi version of Disney's live-action film The Jungle Book.
Key Questions Answered
In the early nineties, Nana Patekar agreed to dub the Japanese animated series into Hindi solely due to financial need. Despite working on films like 'Parinda' and 'Prahaar', his financial condition at the time was not very good.
For his iconic voice work bringing Shere Khan to life in the 1990s animated series, Nana Patekar received a remuneration of merely 3,000 to 5,000 rupees.
Exactly twenty years later in 2016, Hollywood director Jon Favreau brought Disney's live-action film 'The Jungle Book', and Nana Patekar returned to voice Hindi Shere Khan. Unlike the first time, this was driven by a tender longing to touch their old golden era rather than financial trouble.





