Oscars 2023: 'The Elephant Whisperers' Bomman-Bellie Say Their Hearts Beat For Orphaned Calves
Bomman and his Bellie are the true heroes of this Oscar-winning documentary.
On Monday, India made history at the Academy Awards when the films RRR's "Nattu Nattu" (Best Original Song) and "The Elephant Whisperers" (Best Documentary Short Film) took home the major awards in their categories.
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Bomman and his Bellie are the true heroes of this Oscar-winning documentary.
Two elephant calves lost their moms and a makhana (a tusked male jumbo) to an electrical shock in the western area of Dharmapuri, yet their hearts are still beating for them. Both felt the pain of the lost calves in the wild.
Why didn't anybody warn me that I'll be weeping throughout The Elephant Whisperers ? ?
¡ª Aditi Prasad (@AditiPrasad90) March 13, 2023
It's such a beautiful feel good story about Bomman, Belli, Raghu & Ammu. If you haven't watched this 40 minutes story of pure love, warmth, humanity & all things fuzzy in the heart, do it now!
Raghu, one of the two calves shown, lost his mother in 2017 when she was electrocuted in the Krishnagiri area, which is close to Dharmapuri.
#TheElephantsWhisperers leading lady Belli: "I do not know about #Oscar award. I have reared many elephants, treated them like my own children, and looked after them like a foster mother, particularly those who lost their mothers in the jungle."
I also appreciate and congratulate Bomman and Bellie, the couple from the Kattunayakan tribe of Mudumalai National Park in Tamil Nadu for sharing with the world the touching story of their affection for elephants and their tradition of protecting them.
¡ª Manish Yadav (@Yadavmanish_999) March 13, 2023
Bomman's phone rang nonstop Monday morning after the documentary received the award.
The documentary featuring him, Bellie, Raghu, and another orphaned calf, Bommi, had earned worldwide recognition, but he couldn't comprehend the importance.
Raghu and Bommi, now grown up and caring for other mahouts, were his and Bellie's friends.
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Bomman, known as "Kattunayagan" (forest hero), was also searching Palacode in Dharmapuri's deep woods for the two orphaned elephant calves last week so they might be reunited with a herd or sent to the Theppakadu elephant camp in the Nilgiris district.
He's been on this quest to save the calves for days and hasn't had a chance to eat.
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"The calves kept returning to the site where their mothers were buried. How could I eat after seeing that," he bemoaned, adding the calves have since strayed into the forests, and he has to look for them.
According to Bellie, elephants are their gods.
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Bellie and he treat elephant calves as if they were their children. Because of this, they were occupied throughout the day with giving Raghu milk five years ago, when their only son was fighting for his life after suffering burn injuries.
They returned to their house and found their son's body inside.
They came to Bellie's door in the morning to tell her about the award at her home in Theppakadu in the Nilgiris.
"I do not know what this award is, but elephants are our God," she said, adding, "the calves are like our children. We raised Raghu and Bommi as our children."
Bomman has been looking for the calves and has said that he is determined to find them and that bringing them back to their herd would be his biggest reward, even more than winning an Oscar.
You can stream the oscar-winning documentary here.
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