Hoping to catch a glimpse of the two elephant calves that won many hearts through the Oscar-winning short documentary “The Elephant Whisperers”, a significant number of nature and wildlife lovers are thronging to Tamil Nadu’s Mudumalai. The efforts of Bomman and Bellie, members of the Kattunaiyakan tribe, to bring the orphaned elephant calves back to health are the focus of the Kartiki Gonsalves film.
The calves from the short documentary, Raghu and Bommi (Ammu), are being trained at Mudumalai in Tamil Nadu’s Nilgiri Mountains. They are no longer trained by Bomman and Bellie. They find it difficult that other trainers are in charge of the calves, whom they raised as their own children. The elderly couple no longer welcomes visits since it wears them out.
Kartiki Gonsalves and Guneet Monga’s “The Elephant Whisperers” is India’s first Oscar victory in the category of documentary short. The 39-minute documentary shows an unbreakable bond between the two calves and their guardians. It is produced by Sikhya Entertainment’s Monga and Achin Jain.
Bomman and Bellie received congratulations from Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu M K Stalin on Wednesday. Following the Oscar victory, camp authorities reported that both locals and a few foreign tourists had visited the location to interact with the elephants and their keepers. The calves are raised at the Theppakadu Elephant Camp, which is tucked away in Tamil Nadu’s Nilgiri Mountains’ Mudumalai National Park. It was created in 1917 by timberloggers. The camp today holds 28 elephants that were captured. When wild jumbos enter human areas, they are captured and brought to the camp. They have been domesticated and trained to become “kumki” elephants, which are used to help hunt down other wild elephants.
