Proud Moment: India's ‘The Elephant Whisperers’ Wins Oscar for Best Documentary Short Film
Film shows the story of an unbreakable bond between an orphaned elephant and his caretakers
NEW-DELHI: Kartiki Gonsalves and Guneet Monga's ‘The Elephant Whisperers’ clinched the award for Best Documentary Short Film at the Oscars 2023. The film shows the story of an unbreakable bond between an orphaned elephant 'Raghu' and his caretakers 'Bomman and Bellie'.
Besides this, ‘Haulout’, ‘The Martha Mitchell Effect’, ‘Stranger at the Gate’, and ‘How Do You Measure a Year’ were also nominated in the category. The 30-minute-long film ‘The Elephant Whisperers’ was released at Netflix on December 8, 2022.
Sharing her picture holding the Oscar, Guneet Monga tweeted, "Tonight is historic as this is the first ever Oscar for an Indian production. Thank you Mom Dad Guruji Shukrana..To my Co-Producer Achin Jain, Team Sikhya, Netlflix, Aloke, Sarafina, WME Bash Sanjana. My lovely Husband Sunny. Kartiki for bringing & weaving this story."
Praising the ‘The Elephant Whisperers’, Priyanka Chopra wrote, "A trunk full of emotions. One of the most touching documentaries I've seen recently, I really enjoyed it. Congratulations to Kartiki Gonsalves and Guneet Monga."
Reacting on the victory, Congress MP Jairam Ramesh said that the Oscar win for 'The Elephant Whisperers' may force the PM Narendra Modi-led central government to abandon the 'elephant-unfriendly' amendments to the Wild Life Protection Act, 1972.
Taking to Twitter, MP Jairam Ramesh wrote, "It is wonderful that The Elephant Whisperers has won an Oscar. Maybe this will force the Modi govt not to press ahead with the widely opposed elephant-unfriendly amendments to the Wild Life Protection Act, of 1972. In 2010 the elephant had been declared a national heritage animal."
Talking about the short documentary film, 'The Elephant Whisperers', it is produced by Achin Jain and Guneet Monga, and directed by Kartiki Gonsalves. The short film shows the interesting and emotional story of a family from Mudumalai Tiger Reserve in Tamil Nadu who have adopted two orphan baby elephants.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the team of short documentary film 'The Elephant Whisperers' for winning the Oscar award in the Best Documentary Short Film category. Taking to Twitter, PM Modi wrote, "Congratulations to @EarthSpectrum, @guneetm and the entire team of 'The Elephant Whisperers' for this honour. Their work wonderfully highlights the importance of sustainable development and living in harmony with nature."
Notably, India had achieved a total of three nominations at Oscars 2023, Naatu Naatu (RRR) (Best Original Song), All That Breathes (Best Documentary Feature Film) and The Elephant Whisperers (Best Documentary Short Film).
The short documentary displays the relationship between an orphaned baby elephant (Raghu) and his caregivers (Bomman and Bellie). It focuses on the life story of couple Bomman and Bellie, who belong to the Kattunayakan tribal community, and work in the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve camp in Tamil Nadu. They raise orphaned baby elephants. The baby elements becomes a very essential part of their lives. Living in the forest, Bomman and Bellie takes full care of the elephants with all their dedication and love. Bellie, who has lost a daughter, sees her daughter in Raghu while taking care of him. It shows the full emotional roller coaster ride.