Away from Oscars, CM Stalin felicitates the real Elephant Whisperers Bomman, Bellie with Rs 1 lakh

New Delhi: MK Stalin addressed Bomman and Bellie, the indigenous pair who featured in the Academy award for the best documentary short film The Elephant Whisperers, today.
Mr. Stalin congratulated the couple and presented a 1 lakh prize for each of them. The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister also rewarded 1 lakh to all 91 workers at the state’s two elephant camps. Also, the staff at the elephant camps will be provided with environmentally friendly and culturally relevant housing. Mr. Stalin announced the establishment of a new camp in Coimbatore.

“The documentary has brought worldwide attention to the Tamil Nadu Forest Department’s elephant care,” Mr. Stalin remarked.

The Elephant Whisperers is centered in Tamil Nadu and chronicles the narrative of Raghu, an orphaned elephant calf who is placed in the hands of Bomman and Bellie, an indigenous couple from the Kattunayakan tribe who live in the magnificent Mudumalai woods of the Nilgiris.

Kartiki Gonsalves directed and Guneet Monga produced the 40-minute documentary, which highlights the friendship that grows between the elephant and the pair.

Following the movie’s Oscar win, travelers have been flocking to the Mudumalai Theppakadu elephant camp in droves to see the newborn elephant.

“I stand here today to speak about the spiritual relationship between us and our natural world,” Ms. Gonsalves said in her acceptance speech. “For the protection of indigenous peoples. We share our space with other living creatures as an entity. Finally, there is coexistence.”

“Thank you to the oscar for honoring our documentary about indigenous people and wildlife. Thank you to Netflix for believing in the potential of this movie. To Guneet, my Producer, and the rest of my crew, as well as my mother, father, and sister who are somewhere up there, you are the center of my universe. To India, my motherland.”