The Oscar award won by The Elephant Whisperers has reached the one place it was meant to – in the hands of Bomman and Bellie, the tribal couple featured in the film. On Wednesday night, the film’s director Kartiki Gonsalves shared a picture of the couple smiling gleefully as they posed with the Oscar won by the film.
Sharing the picture on Instagram, Kartiki wrote alongside, “It’s been a long four months since we’ve been apart and now I feel like I’m home.” The picture shows Bomman and Bellie with innocent smiles on their faces, holding the Academy Award and looking at the camera. The Elephant Whisperers, a documentary, won the Oscar for Best Documentary Short Subject at the 95th Academy Awards earlier this month.
Kaartiki’s followers and other celebs found the picture cute and reacted to it with praise. “Easily my favourite #Oscars picture ever,” wrote composer and singer Vishal Dadlani. Another comment read, “Love that innocent smile on their face.” Many said now the logical progression would be to get the elephants featured in the film pose with the trophy as well. “I think now we need a photo of the Oscar with Raghu and Ammu,” a comment suggested.
The Elephant Whisperers, directed by Kartiki and produced by Guneet Monga, tells the tale of Bomman and Bellie caring for an injured elephant calf named Raghu and how the three develop a bond over the years. The film, which is streaming on Netflix, has won praise worldwide.
Eearlier in the month, after a report had suggested that Bomman and Bellie had not seen the film featuring them, Kartiki had set the record straight. Tweeting in reference to the article, she had said, “I’d like to address that Bomman and Bellie were the very first people to watch the documentary at a special viewing by me. They live in the core area of the forest and do not have access to streaming channels.”
