Indians across the world celebrated when ‘The Elephant Whisperers’ bagged an Oscar for Best Documentary Short Film at the 95th Academy Awards. Director Kartiki Gonsalves and producer Guneet Monga, the two leading women behind the making of the short film, undoubtedly received a massive boost to their respective careers. However, the real heroes of this documentary continue to remain Bomman and Bellie – the tribal couple working as elephant caretakers at Mudumalai Tiger Reserve in Tamil Nadu.
Bomman and Bellie too received due recognition from the government of Tamil Nadu.
However, the couple has now sent a legal notice to director Kartiki Gonsalves alleging “exploitation” and demanding Rs 2 crore as “goodwill gesture”, reported Mint.
According to the legal notice, the couple was allegedly promised a “proper house” and an “all-terrain multi-purpose vehicle” and “sufficient financial support” as a “one-time lump sum payment” (exact amount not revealed) as compensation for their time and based on the income generated from the project. It further alleged that despite the couple being painted as the real heroes, Kartiki Gonsalves was the one who got all the financial benefits from Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin and PM Modi.
A Chennai-based social activist Pravin Raj who is a lawyer by profession and apparently representing Bomman and Bellie alleged that Kartiki has refused to share even a fraction of the earnings with the couple, despite earlier claiming that all of them would “prosper” if the film was successful.
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“Kartiki said she wanted to shoot the wedding scene in one day. However, she did not have the money for it and asked us to arrange the same. It cost us around Rs 1 lakh. Even though Kartiki had promised us that she would return the money, she has not returned it till now. Whenever we call her, she says she is busy and that she will return our calls soon. But she never does,” India Today reported the couple saying.
Responding to the allegations, Sikhya Entertainment Pvt Ltd, on behalf of Kartiki Gonsalves, released a statement but they didn’t specifically address the issue of lack of compensation. However, they claimed that all allegations that were made by the couple are untrue.
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