
About the only 'positive' I could find regarding his character is his animal companion of Iago. There's nothing particularly memorable about his portrayal (even near the end when he's given every opportunity to unleash in full-on villain mode, he falls way short). While others had pre-judged him based on the trailers alone, I was willing to give him a chance to make up for his lack of sinister voice with what would hopefully be at least a menacing performance. The one 'miss' in the casting department is that of Marwan Kenzari as villainous Jafar.
#ALADDIN MOVIE HINDI DUBBED CAST FULL#
Nasim Pedrad has excellent comic timing, as does Naomi Scott, which is on full display in a fun scene where Aladdin comes to the palace and Jasmine attempts to maintain her cover. Jasmine's other loyal friend, her handmaiden named Dalia, is actually a stand-out character in the movie. Although not given as much to do as Abu, Jasmine's loyal tiger companion, Rajah, is another lovely animal created with CGI, who I appreciated wasn't largely ignored. I could instantly tell that the beloved character of Jasmine was in safe hands as portrayed by Naomi Scott and that she had nice chemistry with Massoud's Aladdin.

I was afraid that the movie would rush through their first meeting, but was happy with the amount of time devoted to them developing an interest in each other. Not before long Aladdin encounters Princess Jasmine (a well-cast Naomi Scott, who does a lot with the character and should make most Jasmine fans proud), who's undercover among the people. Abu is expressive, funny, and helpful (despite sometimes getting them both into trouble). Speaking of, although people think of CGI characters badly a lot of the time, it must be made clear the animal companions in this are all wonderfully brought to life/fully-realised characters. He's funny, got moves/charm, makes for a likeable 'thief' and his relationship with his pet monkey, Abu, is as good as I'd hoped it'd be. Thankfully, I can say that I almost immediately liked Mena Massoud in the role. Although much fuss has been made about the Genie casting, if Aladdin had been miscast, then the whole film would've suffered. After sweeping shots set to the song 'Arabian Nights', we're introduced to the 'street rat' named Aladdin. While it was immediately evident to me what was going on, it wasn't a 'bad' addition. From the very beginning, the movie is somewhat different to what we might be expecting when we're introduced to who is telling the story. That's what we get here: a movie that is familiar, but at the same time new/different (and that's not a bad thing). Once you open your mind to the possibility that something can be 'different' but also *good* then you'll have a more pleasant experience. The other thing to accept is that, short of resurrecting Robin Williams, there was no way they were ever going to be able to replicate his unique take on the character of the Genie. Some things that work in animation just won't translate too well into live-action. Firstly, people need to realise an animated film and live-action film are two different things.


While I too have fond memories of seeing the original animated version at the theatre, I was at least willing to give this one a chance. As soon as this live action version of Aladdin was first announced, it seems certain people were against it.
