The Elephant Whisperers was an Oscar-winning documentary that captured the lives of Bomman and Bellie, who care for estranged elephants in the Mudumalai National Park, which lies between the borders of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. The elderly couple are from a Schedule tribe called Kattunayakar. They have recently made the courageous decision to send a legal notice to Kartiki Gonsalves, the director of the documentary, over the claim of not receiving compensation for their labour for the documentary
Kartiki Gonsalves had received funds from both the Prime Minister of India, Nareder Modi, and M. K. Stalin, the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. Along with that, the documentary also collected a sum of money. Apart from the financial aid given by the Tamil Nadu CM, none of these financial benefits were shared with Bomman and Bellie. The two elderly tribal couples state that they were promised remunerations like a house, a car, and financial support, but none of it was fulfilled by the director.
The advocate for their case, Mohammed Mansoor, has stated that he has received a reply from Sikhya Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. on behalf of Kartiki. In their notice, they state that the director refuses to send any more money as she has already compensated them. Advocate Mohammed Mansoor informs her that he will be sending her a rejoinder once he has conferred with his clients.
“Both Bomman and Bellie are disappointed with (Kartiki) Gonsalves, who had promised them monetary help as well as help with the education of Bellie’s granddaughter, while making the film. But she now refuses to give even a fraction of the enormous profits made by the film.”
– Pravin Raj, Social Activist and Lawyer
There is a portion of the film that has a wedding scene, and it was both Bomman and Bellie who used their own hard-earned money of Rs. 1 lakh to create the scene. This happened at the request of Kartiki Gonsalves, who had some financial troubles at the time but wanted to urgently shoot the scene.
Bellie also details how Kartiki would cross boundaries with them and demand excessive things from them. She had made their granddaughter stay awake late at night to get a shot for her documentary. The director had also demanded lots of favours from the couple to set up certain shots. Bellie
Image Source The South First
Source: Hindustan Times, Behindwoods
