Going Behind The Scenes Of India's Oscar Winner 'The Elephant Whisperers' India's The Elephant Whisperers, the Tamil documentary won the Oscar in the Best Documentary Short Film category recently. This touching tale, however, was made possible with the effort of various other specialists, who we don't often hear about.

Actors, directors, producers and singers- predominantly when a film is a hit, the lion's share of fame, atleast in the eyes of social media, goes to the ones above. But a film involves the dedication and work of several individuals, right down to the spot boy. India's The Elephant Whisperers, the Tamil documentary won the Oscar in the Best Documentary Short Film category recently. We read about director Kartiki Gonsalves, producer Guneet Monga and the couple who had adopted two orphan baby elephants in Tamil Nadu's Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, around whom the story revolves.

This touching tale, however, was made possible with the effort of various other specialists, who we don't often hear about. Take for example, Pradyumna Chaware, the production sounder mixer. What does that term even mean, though?

The main job of a production sound mixer is to capture the audio for the shot, which would mostly have dialogue or other diegetic sounds produced by the actors while performing. "In simpler terms, if you're watching a scene from 'The Elephant Whisperers' with headphones on and if you close your eyes just to listen to the audio, the sounds of the jungle, the animals, humans, and the ambiance it creates – getting this across to you, the viewer, without any disturbance or noise in it is what I do. And it is not just that; there is a whole lot of pre-production involved, right from understanding the script/project or the director's vision then listing out the possible ambiances that the film would require, what specific equipment would allow me to deliver what I wish to deliver depending upon the locations that we will be filming at, etc," Chaware explained to us.

Chaware is a trained Tabla player and a musician, and his inclination towards rhythm and music was noticed at a very early age by his parents, who sent him for proper training. The training, musical background, and love for cinema led him to appreciate different genres of music and films. Discovering the field art of recording, designing, and mixing sounds, Chaware gave the entrance exam for the course Sound Recording and Sound Design (Film) at the prestigious Film and Television Institute of India, Pune, and got selected, and has been working for nearly nine years now.

Another character whose work takes place behind the camera is Karan Thapliyal, the cinematographer for the 39-minute film, who helped capturing the bond between the two elephants Raghu and Amu, and their caretakers, Bomman and Belli. Having being in the industry for 15 years now, he the reason he pursued this path was because he wanted to travel and explore different places, people and culture. Working with the elephants in the film was an enriching and learning experience for him, while initially it was a bit intimidating to shoot in such close proximity. Thapliyal has an interesting portfolio, having worked on documentaries before for Discovery Channel, National Geographic and many other agencies like UNICEF, UNESCO, WHO.

Post the Oscar win, he feels the one significant effect that has taken place is that the award has brought the much needed attention to the kind of exciting work happening in the documentaries. Coincidentally he was also associated with Writing with Fire was became the first feature documentary to be nominated for the Oscars in 2022.

The author can be reached at bkabir@entrepreneurindia.com and Instagram.com/kabirsinghbhandari