PM hails The Elephant Whisperers' team

Prime Minister Narendra Modi met producer Guneet Monga and director Kartiki Gonsalves of the Oscars winning 'The Elephant Whisperers' on Thursday.

"The cinematic brilliance and success of 'The Elephant Whisperers' has drawn global attention as well as acclaim. Today, I had the opportunity to meet the brilliant team associated with it. They have made India very proud," PM Modi tweeted.

Tamil documentary The Elephant Whisperers created history at the 95th Academy Awards by becoming the maiden Indian production to win in the Documentary Short Subject category.

Later, Union Minister Anurag Thakur also met the Oscar winning team behind Elephant Whisperers at his residence today.

During the interaction Thakur said that the power of India's storytelling is unmatched!. Expressing his pleasure at one such story winning the Oscar, he said that "Elephant Whisperers is a 'trunk' full of heartwarming, socially relevant and cinematographically enthralling masterpiece! I am delighted to meet Guneet and Kartiki and learn about their amazing journey while making this spellbinding documentary."

He further said that "the documentary beautifully depicts our social responsibility, impact and efforts towards conservation along with the delicate balance humans share with nature - in the most heartwarming way is truly worth applause."

The Minister delved into India's storytelling traditions and stated that India was a land of storytellers, a million tales are born each day and some retold for generations.

The Minister emphasized on the quality of domestic content and its increasing audience worldwide and remarked that "our regional content has gone global; it is dubbed and enjoyed in every part of the world. India is bustling with stories & a new breed of film makers is hustling to capture them!"

What is the elephant whispers all about?

For the unversed, 'The Elephant Whisperers', a 39-minute documentary produced by Guneet Monga and Achin Jain of Sikhya Entertainment depicts an unbreakable bond between two abandoned elephants and their caretakers.

The film features Bomman and Bellie, a couple in Mudumalai National Park in Tamil Nadu, who dedicated their lives to looking after the orphaned baby elephants, Raghu and Ammu, thus, forging a family like no other.

The film explores the life of an elderly couple couple, who take great pains to ensure that the fragile, injured infant survives and grows to be a healthy juvenile. In the process, a strong bond develops between the couple and the elephant.

Set in the Mudumalai National Park in the beautiful state of Tamil Nadu, the movie highlights the loving bond between humans and pachyderms and is the first Indian movie to bag an Academy Award in this category.It plays around the life of the tribal people in harmony with nature.

The film is not just a heart-touching story of a bond between animals and humans and co-existence but also showcases Indian culture and tradition of environment conservation.

The producer Kartiki Gonsalves spent five years following a human-elephant blended family belonging to Kattunayakan tribe to make this documentary.