Jungle Mangal Movie Review : A forest thriller fueled by strong performances

In Jungle Mangal, director Rakshit Kumar presents a sprawling emotional thriller layered with romance, betrayal, and a dense, near-mythical sense of place.

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Set against the lush yet isolating backdrop of the Western Ghats, the film weaves a tangled narrative of relationships strained by lockdown, generational guilt, patriarchal pressure, and a gun mystery. The story opens in a quiet village under COVID-19 lockdown, as safety announcements play on TV. At the story’s core is Divya (Harshitha Ramachandra), fondly called Ammi, the eldest of four daughters to Santhappa, a man quietly grieving the absence of a male heir, a sorrow he shares with his friend and relative, Jagga (Balawadi Raju). What's currently troubling Ammi is her relationship with Praveen (Yash Shetty), a man left jobless by the pandemic. Their short escape into the wilderness, meant to reclaim something lost, instead spirals into a nightmare.