The Elephant Whisperers made history by becoming the first Indian documentary to win an Oscar. It won Best Documentary Short film at the 95th Academy Awards, beating contenders like Stranger at the Gate and How do you Measure a Year? The Elephant Whisperers is the first Indian film to win an Oscar in this category.
The documentary tells the story of an indigenous couple named Bomman and Bellie as they care for an orphaned baby elephant. The film explores the precious bond between the animal and his caretakers Bommon and Bellie who live in the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve in Tamil Nadu, India.
Producer Guneet Monga shared the news of the win with an Instagram post: "Tonight is historic as this is the first-ever Oscar for an Indian production. India's Glory with 2 women."
In her victory speech on winning the first Oscar for India for an Indian Production, Guneet Monga said, "Yesterday was powerful and historic as two women from India stood on the Oscars stage, lauded for their work. I’m so proud of The Elephant Whisperers, so proud of this moment, and proud of my amazing team at Sikhya Entertainment. That an independent production house from India has made history and produced the first-ever Indian film to win an Oscar, still feels unreal. My heart is full of joy, love, and excitement, most of it imbibed from everyone in India cheering for our win. I’m so grateful to the visionary filmmaker Kartiki Gonsalves and to Netflix who gave us the biggest stage in the world, believing in us all the way. To women who want to tell stories, the future of cinema is audacious, the future is here. This is for my beautiful, diverse country, India."
In her acceptance speech, director Kartiki Gonsalves said, "I stand here today to speak of the sacred bond between us and our natural world, for the respect of indigenous communities and empathy towards other living beings we share space with, and finally, coexistence."
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin felicitated caretaker couple Bomman and Bellie from the Oscar-winning documentary The Elephant Whisperers. The government also announced several cash prizes for all the caretakers and elephant camps in the state. The Tamil Nadu government also announced several cash prizes for all 91 caretakers at the elephant camps in the state, as well as new upgrades for the facility. A tweet from the news agency ANI also stated that cash prizes from the CM Relief Fund would be allotted for the all the other elephant caretakers and money would be set aside for new facilities. "TN Govt announces ₹1 lakh each from CM Relief Fund for all 91 elephant caretakers in the 2 camps in the state, as a token of appreciation. Also allots ₹9.1 cr to build homes for mahouts. ₹5 cr allotted to develop 'Elephant Camp' in Anamalai Tiger Reserve." Another tweet also revealed that a new elephant camp with basic facilities would be built at Coimbatore Chavadi at the cost of ₹8 crore.
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