Filmmakers partly responsible for disinterest in documentaries: 'Wild Karnataka' co-director

In the digital age when content viewing has evolved drastically, documentaries still find it difficult to reach out to the masses as filmmakers don't keep the audiences in mind, says “Wild Karnataka” co-director Amoghavarsha JS.

“Wild Karnataka”, also directed by Kalyan Varma, was the first wildlife documentary to get a wide theatrical release in PVR theatres across Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Kochi and other two-tier cities in January.

“As documentary filmmakers, I think we are also partly to be blamed for less viewership because mostly we are in this in sort of mindset where we are curious and want to take the idea in its purity. But often we don’t have empathy towards our audience," Amogha, an engineer-turned-wildlife photographer and filmmaker, told PTI.

“For ‘Wild Karnataka’ we kept the audience in mind and the results are amazing. What I believe is, if as filmmakers one’s main focus becomes that audiences should enjoy it, the messaging automatically follows through,” he added.

Kalyan, who also left his job as an engineer to pursue wildlife photography and filmmaking, said the response to their film proves that people will make an effort and buy tickets if they are served quality content.

“We never expected a wildlife documentary to do so well in India. To have a sort of theatrical release here and then over a million views on the trailer, it has been an amazing journey. It's a validation that people in India want to know about the biodiversity of our country,” he added.

The documentary, which premiered on streaming platform Discovery Plus last week, is produced by Amogha and Kalyan along with naturalist Sarath Champati and Indian Forest Officer Vijay Mohan Raj, in collaboration with the Karnataka Forest Department, Icon Films and Mudskipper.

Shot using 4K Ultra HD technology by a team of 20 camerapersons using drones and 15 stationed cameras across Karnataka for over a period of four years, the 54 minute-long film has received praise for beautifully capturing the wilderness of the Western Ghats in the state.

But some reviews also pointed out that the film focuses more on creating a visual spectacle than highlighting the need for conservation.

Amogha said with “Wild Karnataka”, the team’s aim was to celebrate the rich biodiversity of the country and that they will continue to highlight the issue of conservation in their future projects.

“We have got a lot of flak for not talking about conservation issues in this film, but we said, ‘First we have to tell people what we have’. People need to know what they have in their house, before they try to take care of it. This film, as a focus and vision, is just a message of celebration.

“The aim is to make people feel proud of what we have and shed all our cynicism. We believe the positivity and hope will then trigger ground-level changes, which are going to be subjects for our coming projects.”

After working for years with international broadcasters such as the BBC and National Geographic, Kalyan and Amogha said they started feeling the need to look into their “backyard”.

“Five years ago, we felt that it was about time we focused on showcasing our country’s biodiversity and make the film for the people of our own country. And feel proud about the amazing diversity we have. That was the idea behind ‘Wild Karnataka’,” Kalyan said.

Amogha added, “We thought it was time to look at our own backyard and celebrate. In India, we have this habit of not celebrating what we have. We are always looking outwards. I think this whole journey started for us as an inward journey.”

The documentary not only gave the filmmakers a gave chance to look within as they patiently waited for over three years to get the right footage, but also gifted them an opportunity to collaborate with their inspiration, veteran natural historian David Attenborough, the director said.

“In a documentary where there are no humans, the whole onus is on the narrator. And growing up, both for Kalyan and I, Sir David Attenborough was the biggest inspiration. Today the work we are doing is because we watched his films.

“Getting him on board was beyond our dreams. Like my wildest dream was to get his autograph and I lived that dream for three years. But to get him as a narrator was too special,” he added.

For its digital premiere, the documentary was also dubbed in regional languages by Indian actors Rajkummar Rao (Hindi), Prakash Raj (Telugu & Tamil) and Rishab Shetty (Kannada).

Amogha said the three artistes felt positively about the film and “that sense of pride and the emotion translated very naturally on screen.”

“Wild Karnataka” will air on Discovery and Animal Planet channels throughout June.