The Statesman 15 September 2012

EYE OF THE TIGER:

"Cinematographer, producer and director Subbiah Nallamuthu has made several topnotch films and documentaries, especially the one's involving tigers. The National Film Award winning filmmaker's latest, 'Return of the Tiger', will air on BBC Entertainment in October. Only a small portion of the interview given by him to Mathures Paul (published in The Statesman 15 September 2012) is produced below for our Members and Viewers.

Q. What got you started on the series 'Return of the Tiger'?

'Return of the Tiger' is a one-off film for BBC Natural World. 'Baghini' is one of the characters I was filming during my previous film 'Tiger Queen' for National Geographic. She was thrown out of her mother's territory by her sibling. The forest department of Rajasthan decided to translocte her to Sariska National Park, which has lost its entire tiger population to poaching.
This was was going to be the first scientific translocation of tigers. We all knew that it is going to be a challenge. I felt a connection to 'Baghini'- I had seen this timid tigress to grow and was keen to see how she would adapt to a new territory and if she'd be able to make her mark there. Her mother, by the way, is the legendry tigress queen of Ranthambhore who has reared five litters. How will this docile daughter of the fierce queen 'Machli' face the many challenges that she would encounter and as we all secretly hoped, start a dynasty of tigers in Sariska. Intuitively I felt that the story was unique and "character based" and I am a great believer in the magic of storytelling. So the grounds for 'Return of Tiger' was laid two years back.
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Q.Did circumstances, by any chance, make 'Baghini' extremely protective and at the same time wild?

A tiger is a tiger; it is a creature of the wild. But yes she was a shy, reclusive tiger as far as tigers go. After a few months in Sariska, she became more confident and began interacting with her mate. When her mate was killed due to poisoning by villagers, who were trying to protect their buffaloes, she lost hope and was found crying for three days while she searched for her mate. These emotions are so human and we can more or less identify with them even though she is a wild animal.
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Q.Why has not been any cubs been produced in Sariska?

A tigress has to feel secure before she can bear cubs. Being translocated to unfamiliar, possibly hostile territory could have been a hindrance to 'Baghini' becoming pregnant. There is, however, some good news on this front- recently 'Baghini' has delivered cubs- happily she must be feeling more settled in Sariska. We can loo forward to establishment of a new dynasty of tigers in Sariska.
.................. 'Return of the Tiger' premieres on 3 October 2012 on BBC Entertainment

mathures paul "


Note:
In some places, the name of the tigress has been stated as 'Baghani', while at others it is mentioned as 'Baghini'. I have uniformly used the name 'Baghini'.

SaktiWild