They say a bond once created between a human and an animal will last forever. This is true in every way in Netflix’s latest Tamil documentary The Elephant Whisperers, which tells the story of an elderly couple, Raghu and Bellie, who become caretakers of two abandoned baby elephants. Set in Theppakadu Elephant Camp of Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, Tamil Nadu, one of the oldest elephant camps in Asia, this documentary immediately establishes the heartwarming moments between keeper Bomman and jumbo Raghu. Like a father waking up his son every morning, Bomman goes to Raghu’s stable to let the elephant see the morning sun before he goes about his routine of bathing in a nearby stream. Let’s see how Bomman was entrusted with Raghu after the latter was orphaned due to his mother’s electrocution. Infested with maggots and wounds, a hungry Raghu wanders through the village before finding a home in Bomman.
Bellie, who has lost her daughter and has a maternal instinct for Raghu, says: ‘When I met the boy, I was pulling my clothes like a little girl and I felt his love. I have decided to give all my love to this motherless child.” Aside from that, the documentary also gives us an outline of who he is. Bellie is a tribal woman, whose husband was mauled to death by a tiger. However, that doesn’t make her disrespectful of the terrain. Since she was stabbed by an adult hand, Bomman now only serves Jumbos for children. The documentary has in -depth details of their humans, through these dialogues, while it makes a large space to establish the topography of the region with the help of cinematography. We come to know that it’s not just a place for elephants. There are butterflies, monkeys, tigers, peacocks, cranes alighting on wild buffaloes, imperturbable hens and wild boars on the trajectories of elephants, which suggests the coexistence of such varied species, especially at a time when human civilization is marking the their territories with all possible stringent measures. The cinematography also elevates the storytelling for the better, when it includes details like touching honey, monkeys eating leftover food from elephants who sometimes throw childish tantrums because their favorite food isn’t offered. The documentary consistently draws parallels between these jumbos and the childlike behavior they exert on their caretakers. The Elephant Whisperers also sheds light on how elephants are orphaned and left stranded during bushfires. We also see another helpless baby elephant, Ammu, who is under the guardianship of Bellie and Bomman. There are hot moments in which Raghu has a bit of sibling jealousy when a much younger Ammu gets attention from his parents. But the most touching twist comes when Bomman and Bellie get married in the presence of Raghu and Ammu, like family. Beyond the stigma of remarrying widows and late marriage, The Elephant Whisperers focuses on the companionship we all crave in our lives. The documentary alternates the daily lifestyle, the beliefs of the children of the earth and the man-animal relationship. Moments like Ammu lying on her mother’s lap and Bellie unafraid of the woods make The Elephant Whisperers more than just a ticking clock.
As the documentary ends on the note that Bellie and Bomman are the first couple to successfully raise two orphaned elephants in South India, the documentary speaks sublimely about the purity of souls and how love is highlighted by above everything. Sometimes humanity is all it takes to recover from the brink of survival.
