Buldeo (Jungle Book 1994)

Buldeo is the secondary antagonist of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book. He was portrayed by Stefan Kalipha.

Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book
He first appears at the beginning of the film as a tour around the Black Jungle of India takes place with Colonel Geoffrey Brydon and his troops. Buldeo partakes in the journey but tries to hunt a few animals with the help of two British officers under Brydon's command, but Shere Khan is nearby and is infuriated at the senseless killing. Nathoo (Mowgli's father who is also the guide) reprimands Buldeo for being so foolish and going against the Jungle Law. Buldeo, however, brushes off Nathoo's accusations and insists it was merely "a few animals here or there."Nevertheless, Nathoo isn't happy and replies: "Would you allow someone to break into your house and steal your food?" and that "these three broke the jungle law. Shere Khan knows it. We'd best beware."

Later, as the tour sets up camp, Shere Khan retaliates for the earlier hunting by attacking the camp - killing a sentry and Sergeant Claibourne, one of the soldiers who had been hunting before, thus, alerting everyone. The tiger then finds Buldeo and briefly chases the hunter. When he finally corners Buldeo, Nathoo jumps in and distracts Shere Khan, saving Buldeo's life. Nathoo orders Buldeo to shoot Shere Khan at this opportunity, but the cowardly hunter ungratefully flees (probably also as an act of retaliation for being reprimanded earlier), therefore, leaving Nathoo to die; despite Colonel Brydon and every other soldiers' effort to shoot the tiger which fails.

Buldeo isn't seen again until years later when he confronts an older Mowgli who is running from British troops after being caught in the palace. Buldeo roughly knocks the boy out with his rifle, then notices that he has a bejeweled dagger from "The Lost City of Hanuman". He takes the dagger and briefly marvels at the sight of it before Captain William Boone, his apparent hunting friend, approaches and takes the "queen's evidence" off him. Before leaving, Buldeo informs William that the dagger "is having very important family."

Several days later, while Mowgli's girlfriend Katherine "Kitty" Brydon is re-introducing him back to civilization, William and Lieutenant Wilkins visit Buldeo at an outdoor tavern to find out information about the dagger. At the table, Buldeo and his partner-in-crime Tabaqui tell William and Wilkins the stories of the lost city and the four of them hatch a plan to convince Mowgli into leading them to the city.

When that plan fails and after Mowgli flees back to the jungle, Boone sets off into the Black Jungle, aided by numerous bandits, Wilkins, Buldeo, Tabaqui and another recruit; Sergeant Harley. The large group searches for the jungle boy and eventually find him. They try to capture him but fail as Mowgli throws several of his attackers off and flees. Buldeo tries to shoot the boy, but Baloo intervenes and rears up in front of Buldeo and roars, causing the hunter to faint. Boone and Wilkins shoot Baloo, badly wounding him.

As a backup plan, the bandits attack the carriage carrying Kitty, Colonel Brydon and Dr. Julius Plumford. Buldeo brutally removes Dr. Plumford from the caravan and prepares to stab the doctor with a large dagger but Mowgli arrives and pushes him aside. Bagheera and Mowgli's wolf friends; including Grey Brother attack (and possibly kill) several of the bandits while the others flee for their lives. In a hurry, Buldeo and Tabaqui quickly board the caravan and hijack it, kidnapping Kitty and, unintentionally, Colonel Brydon who had been shot and wounded.

As the caravan reaches a clearing, Boone, Wilkins and Harley catch up and break the news regarding their betrayal to the appalled Colonel Brydon. As Brydon berates them, Buldeo knocks him out to silence him. Then, Mowgli catches up with the party and they threaten Kitty and Colonel Brydon's lives unless Mowgli takes them to the lost city. Mowgli agrees while promising that they won't survive during the journey.

After Mowgli is captured by the evil British soldiers and the remaining Indian bandits, Boone and everyone else are being watched by Bagheera and the wolf pack as they begin their treasure quest while Bagheera stares at Boone and Wilkins mostly. When Wilkins asks himself why Bagheera is staring at them, Mowgli replies, "Because to him, you are food." A reply is hinted afterwards when Bagheera sticks out his tongue to show his hunger for them.

That night, as the group stop to rest, Shere Khan's distinct growls are heard nearby and Boone looks forward to hunting the tiger, but Buldeo firmly advises the soldier not to try hunting Shere Khan, because "he's the Devil."

The next morning, Harley is the first to wake up and catches Mowgli escaping with Bagheera's help. Harley shouts at them to wake up as he gives chase but falls into a pond of quicksand. He screams for help and Wilkins is the first to reach him. Wilkins pathetically tries to rescue Harley but is unsuccessful and by the time Buldeo and the rest have caught up, Harley has drowned. The remorseless Boone tells the group that they should get on with the journey and they do so.

As the expedition resumes, Tabaqui sets off to find the jungle boy. The group later witness a fight atop a cliff between him and Mowgli. The clash ends with Tabaqui plummeting from the cliff to his death before the group's eyes. Kitty, mocking Boone's earlier lack of remorse, smugly states "What a shame" and suggests they move on. Boone, embittered at the death of another confederate, orders Buldeo and Wilkins to shoot Mowgli. Buldeo and Wilkins comply, but are bad shots due to the height of the cliff. Mowgli then jumps from the cliff and lands safely in the water nearby to avoid the bullets.

Later, the group reach the lost city (called "Monkey City" by Mowgli) but Shere Khan has caught up with them and Buldeo strongly suggests to the group that they run to evade the tiger. Wilkins and Buldeo, however, become separated from the group and when Wilkins hears Shere Khan growling, he blindfires in a random direction, accidentally shooting Buldeo on the leg. Buldeo collapses, nursing his wound, and shouting while cursing Wilkins, who is then shortly afterwards chased and killed by Shere Khan. Buldeo then manages to find his way to the city without being caught by Shere Khan.

In the temple, Buldeo tries to shoot Mowgli several times, but misses each time. He ends up chasing the jungle boy into a small mausoleum in the ruins. He limps down the steps and searches for the "man cub" before soon spotting him. Buldeo fires at Mowgli but misses and hits a plate on the wall, which shatters and sand begins spilling out of the hole and onto the floor. Soon, more plates on the walls begin bursting off, followed by streams of sand and Buldeo realises that he's set off a booby trap.

Mowgli escapes as more sand starts pouring in, flooding the crypt and filling Buldeo's gunshot wound, much to his agony. The ceiling above the room is underpin by the pillars that began to sink into the ground as the sand on which they stood leaked into the room, and a stone ceiling begins to descend upon Buldeo as more sand begins gushing out of it, burying him. Buldeo manages to struggle free and crawls in pain in attempt to escape, but the ceiling is too close to trapping him in the small, narrow tomb. With his last breath, Buldeo screams for help before the gap is closed and he is sealed inside the sand-filling tomb to suffocate.