'Bomman and Bellie were the first to watch...' Oscar-winning documentary-maker Kartiki rejects media reports

Documentary filmmaker and photojournalist Kartiki Gonsalves, who picked up the Oscars for Best Documentary Short Film for 'The Elephant Whisperers' along with Guneet Monga, on Tuesday rejected speculations that the tribal couple on whom the story is based upon had not seen the film so far.

Oscar brings a smile on the face of real-life 'Elephant Whisperer'

Taking to Twitter, Kartiki said: "I would like to address that Bomman and Bellie (tribal couple) were the very first people to watch the documentary at a special viewing by me. They live in the core area of the forest and do not have access to streaming channels."

The clarification came after some media outlets claimed that Bomman had still not seen the Oscar-winning documentary on Netflix. 

When Asianet News reached out to Bellie after the documentary received the Oscar award, 
she said, "I faced great challenges while bringing up the two elephants. But I do not treat them as difficulties. Raghu came to me first. I used to sleep under the shed and rain. I was not bothered by that. Now they have given me a job in the forest office. If the elephant sees me, it comes to me. It would not go with them. Fearing this, they give the elephant food inside the forest."

"People from Kerala, Kozhikode to Guruvayur, are coming to see the elephant. They come to the camp, and if I am not in the camp, they come to my home to see me and take a photo with me. There were so many elephant photos in my home, which the Kerala children take it away. When children are asking for the photo, how can I say no? They are poor. They want to see the elephant Bommi. I used to tell them. They (forest officials) won't allow us to see Bommi now. They say that one day we will come and see Bommi," she added. 
 
'The Elephant Whisperers' narrates the story of how Bomman and Bellie took care of an injured orphaned elephant named Raghu and brought it back to health. 

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