Oscar 2023 winner The Elephant Whisperers: Meet the couple who inspired the makers of documentary 

Oscar 2023 announced The Elephant Whisperers as the winner in the category of Best Documentary (Short Subject). It was nominated alongside Haulout, The Martha Michell Effect, Stranger at the Gate, and How Do You Measure a Year?

The documentary is based on the life of a tribal couple who devoted their lives to caring for two orphaned baby elephants named Raghu and Ammu. The 40-minute-long short film showcases the relationship between humans and wildlife.

---

About Bomman and Bellie, the inspiration behind the Oscar Best Documentary winner for 2023

Hailing from Mudamalai’s National Park in Tamil Nadu, India, Bomman and Bellie, a couple from the Kayyunyakar Tribe is the real-life couple behind the Oscar 2023 winner The Elephant Whisperers, directed by Kartiki Gonsalves.

Raghu first came into Bomman and Bellie’s life in 2017 when the injured one-and-a-half-year-old baby elephant was brought to them for care. Sometime later, this little family welcomed another elephant called Ammu.

However, when Raghu grew up, he was given to another mahout, leaving the rest of the family, including Ammu, heartbroken. Bomman, Bellie, and Ammu now live together at the Theppakadu Elephant Camp.

During a conversation with ncpr, Bellie opened up about her life and said that she has experienced many losses. She added:

"My ex-husband was killed by a tiger. This left me feeling scared of the forests. I get scared when I see a tiger. I am a tribal woman, and our people come from the heart of the forest."

The director of The Elephant Whisperers, Kartiki Gonsalves, spent her childhood in and around nature in Southern India as her family used to explore streams and beaches and would often take the director and her sister to museums, aquariums and more.

---

Kartiki decided to make the Oscar-winning documentary because she fell in love with Raghu

During the conversation with ncpr, the director of the Oscar-winning documentary further opened up about her inspiration. She said that she first met Raghu when she was in the process of moving back to Ooty and stopped at the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, close to the Theppakadu Elephant camp.

She added:

"While driving home, I met Raghu as a three-month-old calf."

She was pleased by how playful Raghu was and started talking to Bomman, who asked her to come back so she could get to know Raghu better.

She said that the documentary was made because she "fell in love with Raghu":

"This documentary was made because I fell in love with Raghu first. The three of us would happily splash along the river, and I would spend hours scrubbing him and rubbing his tongue. He absolutely loves his tongue being rubbed. He enjoyed pulling my hair and splashing around in the water. We would stick our tongues at each other."

The documentary that took home the Best Documentary Oscar at the 95th Academy Awards is available to stream on Netflix. Stay tuned for more updates about the award show.