Chennai: Mahout Bellie, who rose to fame as one of the subjects of the Oscar-winning documentary The Elephant Whisperers, lamented to ThePrint Thursday that she and her husband Bomman had treated the film’s director Kartiki Gonsalves “like our own daughter”, but had received “exploitation” in return.
The Tamil Nadu couple shot to fame after the documentary depicting their poignant relationship with an orphaned elephant called Raghu won the Oscar for Best Documentary Short in March this year. However, they are now in the midst of a dispute with the filmmakers over ‘compensation’ amounting to a payment of Rs 2 crore, among other things.
The couple has listed their demands in a legal notice to Gonsalves, Sikhya Entertainment Private Limited, and other parties associated with the film.
The notice, a copy of which ThePrint has accessed, was dated 24 June, but news of it only surfaced this week, days after Bellie’s appointment as the first permanent woman elephant caretaker at Tamil Nadu’s Theppakadu Elephant Camp on 2 August.
Speaking to ThePrint Thursday, Bellie said that the couple had sent the notice because they were upset about “false promises” made to them.
“During the shoot of the documentary, Kartiki acted very close to us and shot her documentary covering our lives. She even entered places for which she didn’t have prior government approval, including the tribal temple where the marriage (scene) was shot,” said Bellie, who lives with her husband in the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve forest area, a designated national park. The couple belongs to the Kattunayakan Scheduled Tribe.
Bellie claimed that the couple bore expenses of Rs 1 lakh for the sequence of the film that showcased their wedding but had been promised by the filmmakers that the amount would be paid back.
“Kartiki said they did not have the money then. As the shoot had to go on, she asked us to pay and that she would return the money later. Won’t you ask for your money back if you had loaned it to someone?” she asked.
“We had gone above and beyond what the forest department told us, to help Kartiki. But they just abandoned us and failed to fulfill their promise after winning the Oscar,” Bellie added.
The couple’s lawyer, Mohammed Manzoor, claimed that they approached him to make a case against the filmmakers, demanding compensation for the “skill, time, and effort” they had put into the filming of the documentary.
Speaking to ThePrint, Manzoor said: “Bomman and Bellie have tried reaching out to Gonsalves multiple times but she has not responded properly. We will be sending a rejoinder notice to the filmmakers as they still haven’t replied properly to our notice.”
The filmmakers’ reply, which ThePrint has accessed, said: “…an agreement was executed with your clients (Bomman and Bellie) which clearly specified the vesting of rights with us in the documentary ‘The Elephant Whisperers’, rendition of services, and the fixed full and final payment for the same to each of them, which payment was made in full by us, all as per the terms of the said agreements.”
It added: “We…initiated and voluntarily sought your clients’ participation and availability in the various promotion, publicity and related activities for our documentary, which…provided some well-deserved and truly earned interest and respect for your clients, not to mention the various prize monies received by them from the government as stated by you in your notice itself.”
ThePrint contacted Sikhya Entertainment, Kartiki Gonsalves, and Douglas Blush, the executive producer of the film, and his company Medpix Inc. via mail for comment but a response has not been received.
Meanwhile, Sikhya Entertainment’s PR firm sent a press statement from the company and Kartiki Gonsalves to ThePrint.
“All claims made are untrue. We have a deep respect for all of the contributors of this story, and remain driven by the desire to create positive change,” the statement said.
Also read: Elephant Whisperers’ fight shows Indian documentaries need better contracts, IP regulations
‘We found deposits of Rs 60 and Rs 40′
The legal notice was sent to six parties — Sikhya Entertainment Private Limited, Achin Vipin Kumar Jain, Guneet Damanjeet Singh Monga (both mentioned as directors), Kartiki Gonsalves, Priscilla Gonsalves, and executive producer of the documentary, Douglas Blush.
The legal notice said: “You made assurance and representation to our client…a proper house and an all-terrain multi-purpose vehicle (like jeep) and sufficient financial support as a one-time lump sum payment, (without mentioning the amount) would be given to our clients to compliment and compensate for their time and efforts.”
The notice further demands Rs 2 crore as financial compensation to “take care of (the couple’s) housing and other basic needs to meet the old-age and post-retirement life”.
The couple alleged that the Oscar trophy was brought to them only because it was a good photo opportunity. Once the photo was taken, the trophy was immediately taken away, they said.
Bellie said they were ignored by Gonsalves after the Oscar victory and that their calls were mostly unanswered, or attended just to be told that she was busy and would reply soon.
“A few times, they said they had sent money to our accounts and when we checked, we found deposits of Rs 60 and Rs 40,” she said.
Notably, after the Oscar win, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Stalin gave Bomman and Bellie a cash prize of Rs 1,00,000 each, which the notice also acknowledges.
Meanwhile, the company’s statement to ThePrint said: “The goal in creating ‘The Elephant Whisperers’ has always been to highlight elephant conservation, the tremendous efforts of the Forest Department and its mahouts Bomman and Bellie…the documentary has raised awareness of the cause and had a real impact on the mahouts and cavadis community.”
It added that Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin has donated “towards assisting the 91 mahouts and cavadis who look after the state’s elephants, constructing eco-friendly houses for the caretakers and developing an elephant camp in the Anamalai Tiger Reserve”.
(Edited by Smriti Sinha)
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