Iku: The Jungle Man

Genre: Comedy

Cast: Suleman Shankar, Usha Rajak, Ravi Dangol and Aakash Kharel

Director: Sagar Lamichhane

Being screened at Gopi Krishna Movies

Kathmandu: After the landmark performance in Nepali comedy teleserial, Merry Bassai, Iku, one of the most popular characters in the serial, has now made its big screen debut — Iku: The Jungle Man.

The movie, that revolves around Iku's story, moves on a fast pace in the first half, but slows down. Though promised to be a hilarious comedy, Iku's big screen version does not live up to expectations.

The movie begins with the kidnapping of a young boy Sushant (Aakash Kharel) by the comic villains, who ask for handful of money as ransom from his parents. The parents reach the place where the villains are put up in the jungle to pay the money in return for their son. But by the time they reach the place, their son has been rescued by the hero, Iku (Suleman Shankar) fighting boldly with the villains — beating them up and swinging from branches of trees.

Meanwhile, there appears

female protagonist Neha

(Usha Rajak) with her boyfriend, who attempts to rape her. She manages to escape from him but is again trapped by the villains. Here too Iku comes to her rescue with his bows and arrows.

The jungle man is now brought to the city by Neha and Sushant. Unfortunately, Sushant is unable to contact his parents. In the city, Neha teaches Iku urban social graces

and takes him to different places. However, the villains make an appearance again and kidnap them and take them to the jungle.

Basically, the movie revolves around Iku saving the heroine and other helpless people from the bad guys. Though the movie was expected to be packed with comedy, it fails to do just that. However, Iku appearance and his acts are able to bring out a few chuckles from the audience. Some of his stunts are appreciable.

The action sequence of the actress is also praiseworthy and the comic scenes of the villain (Ravi Dangol) are the spice of the movie.