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Monday, Dec 10, 2007
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Shooting secrets of the wild...

Capturing nature: Wildlife filmmaker Naresh Bedi

Noted wildlife filmmaker Naresh Bedi continues his companionship with nature through the art of film making. He talks to Madhur Tankha about his special documentaries and views on issues of wildlife conservation.

His first brush with wildlife was as a wide-eyed boy in Hardwar. And now half a century later, wildlife filmmaker Naresh Bedi’s fascination for the wild has grown manifold and he continues to map the jungles, making films to create awareness about the threat posed to the creatures of the wild.

Part of the well-known Bedi Brother duo along with Rajesh, Naresh grew up in the lap of the Himalayan foothills and inherited the love for nature from his father Ramesh Bedi, a scholar of medicinal plants. “We kept civets, foxes and pythons as pets in our home in Hardwar and encountered leopards and elephants in the jungle.”

Coaxed by his father into studying filmmaking as there were no Indian wildlife filmmakers at that time, Naresh got himself enrolled at the Film and Television Institute of India at Pune after finishing schooling at Gurukul in Hardwar. “My colleagues there included Jaya Bachchan, Shatrughan Sinha and Balu Mahendran. But I wasn’t lured by the arc lights of tinsel town. I found wildlife filmmaking more thrilling, adventurous and exciting and wanted to bring the splendour of India’s wild to people’s homes.”

Speaking about his two documentaries on the land of Ladakh that will soon be aired on Discovery channel, Naresh says Ladakh’s fascination lies in its cultural similarities with Tibet -- inaccessibility, land-locked lakes and peculiar fauna and flora.

The first documentary ‘Ladakh -- Desert in the Skies’ takes an in-depth look into the lives of the Changpa nomads who live at altitudes of 4,500 metres. “We followed the Changpas, who move from valley to valley with their yaks, sheep and goats in search of greener pastures. The film will showcase their lifestyle. There were no shops, therefore we had to survive on tinned food. As they get to interact a bit with the Army, they can speak a smattering of Hindi.”

The film successfully captures some unique sequences with the snow leopard and Tibetan lynx and also highlights the precarious relationship of the nomads with nature.

His second documentary ‘Ladakh – The Forbidden Wilderness’ reflects how the sacred Buddhist faith has led to an unusual relationship between man and animal. “It gives a glimpse into the lives of Ladakhi Buddhists,” says Naresh, whose wildlife footage has not only spread a strong conservation message, but also made a significant contribution to the subcontinent’s natural history.

Expressing concern over the increasing threat to wildlife, particularly big cats, from poachers, Naresh says the menace of poaching can only be minimised and not completely reduced. “There can be no fool-proof mechanism as it is simply impossible to deploy a ranger every few kilometres. The rangers need to be well equipped. At some places like the Sunderbans, ex-servicemen have been inducted as rangers. I am quite hopeful from all the research and information that I am getting that tigers have a good chance of surviving in the Indian jungles.”

For Naresh, his documentary “Cherub of the Mist” was special as it was the first time that someone had filmed the rare red panda in its natural habitat. “It revealed several behavioural traits about the red panda. To make this film we ventured into thick forests and climbed up to 13,000 ft. The film won three awards in France.”

Naresh has received international acclaim for his films on the gharial, elephant and tigers that have been beamed by major television networks across the world. Along with his brother, he has travelled to the remotest corners of the country to produce pictorial books and films on the natural heritage of the country.

He has received two wildlife film nominations for British Academy Awards and has won the “Green Oscar” for the best wildlife cameraman at the International Wildlife Film and Television Festival, “Wildscreen 1984”.

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