The New Indian Express | A ‘tail’ of the wild: Philanthropist Rohini Nilekani on her debut documentary

Philanthropist Rohini Nilekani dives into the very essence of her award-winning debut documentary Nilgiris – A Shared Wilderness, which is set to release on July 18, and its alarming reminder to preserve the country’s fading biodiversity

A story of passion unfolded in the verdant hills of the Nilgiris a couple of years ago. Bankrolled by philanthropist Rohini Nilekani and helmed by Sandesh Kadur, Nilgiris – A Shared Wilderness – a documentary, was born, aimed at creating awareness of its unique biodiversity. The journey has garnered several accolades, including the Stories of Nature Award at the Santiago Film Festival and the Platinum Remi Award for documentary feature at the WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival. The film will release in 11 cities, including Bengaluru on July 18.

“For me, the film should make people realise that there are stories about India’s biodiversity that needs to be told and for this we need a lot of philanthropists to come forward,” Nilekani emphasises, reflecting on the recognition, adding, “India’s biodiversity is its strategic advantage of us to be resilient.”

Through the documentary, she hopes to inspire a new generation to become trustees of India’s ecosystems. “When people see the intricate beauty, the interconnected web of life shown in the documentary – how the smallest and the biggest creatures are tied together in this web, it inspires people to understand, and then they begin to explore. Your mind and heart get involved as you begin to understand, love and appreciate. And from there, you begin to nurture, protect and enhance. So it’s a journey we want people to get onto so that young minds can become trustees of our impossible-to-replicate heritage in the future.”

Nilekani reflects further on her experience making the documentary and the challenges she faced during the creative process. “It’s hard to get consent to film in forest regions,” she notes. However, the result was worth the effort. One memorable moment for her was capturing the playful antics of a mother leopard and her four cubs. “It was fantastic and one of the rarest sights. I was lucky enough to be there when we were filming,” she exclaims. “The animals didn’t read our script,” she jokes, “They would do whatever they wanted to do, and we had to silently wait.”

Through the documentary, her debut production, she hopes to cement an ecological awareness through a message. “Now we are at a point where people get detached from nature. So we have to reconnect, reorganise and recreate new cultures of ecological belonging, new rituals and ideas to explain why these are important, and stories are a good vehicle to do that,” she asserts.

“I hope those who choose to settle here will feel that they are not tourists or new settlers, but trustees and that they have the responsibility of not only preserving but enhancing the Nilgiris, the ancient biodiverse region in South India, and that they are coming in to enhance it and not to deplete it,” she says, adding, “If the film can spur a few people in that direction, then we will have been successful.”

“When you don’t see it, you ignore and forget it, things get lost, and you don’t appreciate any of it. So our job is to open people’s eyes and hearts, connect people to the emotion of the landscape, the animals, through drama, behaviour and all of that action – building a sense of awe, care and stewardship for the landscape. That’s what we hope to achieve through the film,” says Sandesh Kadur, director of the documentary, recalling the two-year-long making of the film in the region and the warm interactions he had with the residents.