The elephant caretakers Bomman and Belli, who were seen in director Kartiki Gonsalves’ Oscar winning documentary The Elephant Whisperers have finally laid their hands on the coveted golden statuette. The couple was all smiles as Kartiki shared a photo featuring them as they held onto the trophy.
Sharing the picture, Kartiki wrote, “It’s been a long four months since we’ve been apart and now I feel like I’m home….. @theelephantwhisperers.” The picture since then has become viral on the social media with netizens wanting a picture with the two elephants Ammu and Raghu. Even celebs like Vishal Dadlani, Esha Gupta, Niharika Konidela, Mini Mathur, Aahana Kumra and others reacted to the picture and showered love on Bomman, Belli and Kartiki.
The Elephant Whisperers depicted the care and love showered by caretakers, Belli and her husband Bomman, in taking care and rearing the abandoned baby elephants at the government-run Theppakkadu Elephant Camp in the Nilgiris District. The Netflix documentary showed the life of the two elephant calves, Raghu and Ammu and their strong bond with their caretakers Belli and Bomman.
The Elephant Whisperers became the first Indian production to win in the Documentary Short Film category, thereby creating history at the 95th Academy Awards. The film was produced by Guneet Monga’s Sikhya Entertainment. On March 15, Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin felicited Bomman and Belli and presented them with cheques of Rs 1 lakh, an award and shawls to honour them. He also gave Rs 1 crore cheque to Kartiki, a memento, shawl and a certificate of commendation and congratulated her on winning the Oscar award.
(Source: Instagram)
