Bagheera Bagheera Bagheera (; "Baghīrā"/"Bagīdah") is a fictional character in Rudyard Kipling's Mowgli stories in the "Jungle Book" (coll. 1894) and the "Second Jungle Book" (coll. 1895). He is a black panther (melanistic Indian leopard) who serves as friend, protector and mentor to the "man-cub" Mowgli. The word "bagheera" is Hindi/Urdu for black panther-- although the root word bagh means tiger. Born in captivity in the menagerie of the Raja of Udaipur, Rajasthan, India, Bagheera begins to plan for his freedom after his mother dies. Once he is mature and strong enough, he breaks the lock on his cage and escapes
The Jungle Book (franchise) family, so his girlfriend, Shanti, along with his adopted younger brother, Ranjan, journeys into the jungle to find him. But all is not well there. Mowgli's old foe, the fierce tiger Shere Khan, is out to get revenge on him, being more determined to kill him than ever. "Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book" is a 1994 live-action film co-written and directed by Stephen Sommers, based on the Mowgli stories in "The Jungle Book" and "The Second Jungle Book" written by Rudyard Kipling. The film stars Jason Scott Lee as Mowgli, Cary Elwes as his adversary Captain Boone, and Lena Headey