’The Elephant Whisperers’ dramatizes the emotional bond between an orphaned elephant, Raghu, and the couple who care for him. (Wikimedia Commons)
'The Elephant Whisperers' dramatizes the emotional bond between an orphaned elephant, Raghu, and the couple who care for him. (Wikimedia Commons) Months after the Indian film The Elephant Whisperers won the Oscar for Best Documentary Short at the Academy Awards this past March, the mahout (elephant rider or caretaker) couple Bomman and Bellie at the centre of the film filed a legal notice. The notice from the Indigenous couple, who belong to the Kattunayakan community in India's Tamil Nadu province, demanded 20 million rupees (about $330,000) from the filmmaker Kartiki Gonsalves and the film's production house, Sikhya Entertainment, run by Guneet Monga. The couple complained about being subjected to trying situations during the shoot and the expenses incurred to help execute scenes according to the filmmaker's convenience. In defence, the makers issued a statement. Though not responding to the allegations directly, it said the film created awareness about the mahout community and led to socioeconomic benefits for them. They mentioned donations from M.K. Stalin, the chief minister of Tamil Nadu, towards assisting 91 elephant caretakers in the state's two elephant camps.
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