Oscar-nominated filmmaker Kartiki Gonsalves on the making of ‘The Elephant Whisperers’ and her passion for wildlife documentation

Kartiki Gonsalves’ directorial debut The Elephant Whisperers is one of three Indian films nominated for the 95th Academy Awards.  Nominated for the Best Documentary Short Film, the 41-minute movie chronicles the bond that Bomman and Bellie, a South Indian couple, share with Raghu, an orphaned elephant.

For Kartiki, the journey of documenting Raghu began nearly six years ago when she saw Bomman escorting him to a river for his bath. Watching Kartiki peer from her car, Bomman beckoned her to join them. The Oscar-nominated director recalls watching Raghu roll around and splash himself with water. “ Raghu loves water like nothing else I have seen before,” says Kartiki over a Zoom call. She forged a special bond with the orphaned elephant in a short time and credits the movie’s conception to her love for him. “I observed that Raghu is like a son to Bomman. He wraps his trunk around Bomman’s hand and follows him everywhere