5 min readMar 18, 2023 09:29 AM IST
First published on: Mar 17, 2023 at 06:01 PM IST
Early last week, my father was admitted to the hospital for a medical procedure. I spent the better part of the week watching my mother watching over my father anxiously in the hospital. I fretted about both, as my mother refused to leave the hospital for a single night to rest at home. Their golden labrador Nobu was distressed by all our fretting and unable to understand why no one was around to play with him. Fortunately, this week started well with my father, aka “Pop”, coming back home and instantly renewing his usual routine. As I stayed an extra night back in Hyderabad to make sure they were both settled back in before I came back to Delhi and my litigator life, I tuned into Netflix to watch the documentary short film, The Elephant Whisperers.
The film has won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Film this year — the first Indian film to do so. The film is directed by Kartiki Gonsalves and produced by Guneet Monga, Achin Jain and Doug Blush. This is also Gonsalves’s debut directorial venture. What a film to debut with!
Set in the stunning Mudumalai National Park in the Nilgiri Mountains in Tamil Nadu, The Elephant Whisperers tells the story of Bomman and Bellie, members of the indigenous Kattunayakan tribe, whose name means “king of the jungle”. Bomman and Bellie are retained by the forest department to take care of an orphaned three-month-old elephant calf named Raghu. Both Bomman and Bellie look after Raghu in the Theppakadu Elephant Camp within the national park. Raghu’s mother had been killed by electrocution when she got entangled in a fence.
It is a rare movie that has so many captivating protagonists. The breathtaking beauty of our first hero, Mudumalai National Park, is marvellously captured by the cinematographers Karan Thapliyal, Krish Makhija and Anand Bansal. The opening sequence, featuring the flowing waters of the park catching the sun and turning into a river of flowing gold sets the tone of the beauty to follow. Inquisitive langurs, elegant deer, speedy leopards and chattery birds all make an appearance in the film. The national park is simply 321 square kilometres of a natural paradise — stunning blue skies, golden setting sun, and looming cliffs from which one can have luminous views. There simply is no stronger argument for preserving our wilderness than parks like this.
If the national park is the first hero of the film, a playful Raghu who is nursed back to health by Bomman and Bellie, is the second protagonist that draws us in. With a thatch of spiky hair on his head, mischievous eyes, a fondness for sweets and a love for being scrubbed with soap in the water, Raghu becomes the glue that brings Bomman and Bellie together.
The film ‘The Elephant Whisperers’ is directed by Kartiki Gonsalves and produced by Guneet Monga, Achin Jain and Doug Blush.
Bomman and Bellie, our other protagonists, are witty, caring and loving of their elephant ward Raghu. As they care for Raghu, they find the love for their calf-ward growing to envelop the three of them. Bellie, who is recovering from the loss of both her daughter and her husband, finds laughter and a fresh joy in life by caring for Raghu, and then love for her co-parent Bomman. Later on in the 41-minute film a second orphaned elephant Ammu joins them.
The strong writing by Priscilla Gonsalves tells a moving story that unfolds before us. This is what distinguishes this film from any skillfully crafted National Geographic documentary on the wild. At the heart of The Elephant Whisperers is the story of the healing power of love. As in this case, when found, it is love that saves Raghu, Ammu, Bomman and Bellie. Orphaned elephants rarely survive, and, for a human, the loss of a child and spouse is often too heavy to bear. The film itself is a labour of love. It was made over five years, including a year and a half that Gonsalves spent with Raghu before she started shooting the film.
As I landed back in Delhi and got home, my children shouted gleefully as I entered the door. The infinitely better half beamed happily. As I was enveloped in hugs and stories from school, I thought of my parents, safe and back in their home. Flashes of Raghu, Ammu, Bomman and Bellie also came back to me. To love is simply to be human. And it comes in all forms. When we have it, all we can do is treasure it and marvel at it.
The writer is a Senior Advocate at the Supreme Court of India
The Elephant Whisperers has won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Film this year — the first Indian film to do so. (Express Photo)
The film ‘The Elephant Whisperers’ is directed by Kartiki Gonsalves and produced by Guneet Monga, Achin Jain and Doug Blush. 
Share
