'The Elephant Whisperers' director gets Rs 1 crore cash prize from Tamil Nadu govt

Tamil Nadu government on Tuesday felicitated Kartiki Gonsalves, director of Oscar award-winning short film The Elephant Whisperers, by giving her a cheque of Rs 1 crore. Chief Minister M K Stalin handed over the cheque and a citation to Gonsalves, who was raised in Udhagamandalam or Ooty.

Gonsalves, is the daughter of Prof Timothy A Gonsalves, founder Director of IIT-Mandi and Priscilla Gonsalves, a story writer. The film revolves around the life of Bomman Belli, the elephant caretakers working at the

Theppakadu elephant camp located in the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve in Tamil Nadu.

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The development came a week after the state government announced a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh each to Bellie and Bomman, whose love for a calf was brought out vividly in the Oscar-winning documentary, and to all 91 staff at two elephant camps in the state.

Besides, the government also allotted Rs 5 crore for developing the elephant camp in Anamalai Tiger Reserve and Rs 8 crore for establishing a new elephant camp in Sadivayal in Coimbatore.

Bomman and Bellie dedicated years together in raising Raghu, an orphaned elephant calf which was brought to Theppakadu in 2017 after his mother elephant died due to electrocution in Krishnagiri district. The documentary, which won Oscars on Monday, captured the bonding and love shared between jumbos and humans who make huge sacrifices in their personal lives to raise the elephants, especially those separated from their mother.

Bellie had to tend to the calves even when her daughter was struggling for her life at a hospital after setting herself ablaze as they couldn’t leave them alone. By the time they reached, her daughter had passed away. Bellie, who has had a troubled past after she lost her first husband to a tiger attack, married Bomman over a decade ago.

Theppakadu Elephant Camp, which was established in 1917 by the British regime, currently houses 28 camp elephants, including those jumbos captured and rescued by the Forest Department.