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Close to Nature

Kamal Sidhu joins engineering students in "Chasing Nature" on Animal Planet

THE WILD ATTRACTS Kamal Sidhu

The lady with the mile-wide smile and corona of curls is back in the television circuit. But this time, Kamal Sidhu isn't getting "Dangerous". Instead, the charming model-actor-anchor joins an energetic bunch of engineering students in "Chasing Nature."

In the new action-packed series being aired on Animal Planet (Fridays 8.00 p.m.), Kamal tracks some of the best engineering minds from various universities in the U. S., and examines how they design and construct an apparatus that mimics some of the amazing capabilities of animals. "It's all about Nature's engineering feats and the ingenuity of the human race," Kamal smiles. "It's a huge challenge for the students. Every week, a team is selected and given a particular animal to replicate. It isn't easy to match up to the real master of engineering — Mother Nature. A life-size model of a specific physical feature of an animal has to be built and tested. And I track them through their trials and triumphs," she adds.

Every week, it's a new team of students and — of course, a new challenge. So in "Chasing Nature," Kamal takes viewers through weeks of exciting engineering adventures — from swinging like an ape to swimming like a dolphin. Some of the animals that the students will replicate include the big horn ram (this week), archer fish, scorpion, ape, giraffe, bats, chameleon, dolphin, jumping viper and lion. "All the students were flown in from various parts of the U.S. to Sydney, especially for the series. They were allowed to watch the animals up-close and observe their intricacies. In the final outcome, some stunt sequences and special effects have been incorporated. So though it involves students, the serial has been put together in a professional way. It has taken six months to shoot 12 episodes!"

As for her experience, Kamal says, "First of all being in a lovely place like Sydney for six long months was in itself a big treat. Reality show is a new genre for me. I was a bit worried initially. Soon, I discovered it was fun. Working with young, engineering minds was amazing. The show inspires camaraderie and also teaches you to face competition with a positive attitude."

Describing the episodes, Kamal says, "It was a good chance to get close to Nature. I learnt a lot — about bats using their sonar power to navigate their surroundings with incredible accuracy, chameleons' elastic tongue that can shoot out up to twice the length of its body to target its prey, the archerfish's mouth that works like a submarine water pistol to shoot down its prey and apes that can swing across a 100-ft chasm. The students' effort to replicate them is awesome."

As for her own journey through the world of showbiz, Kamal, who has anchored "Dangerous", a no-holds-barred chat show on sex for Zoom TV, and "Earthpulse", an animal show for National Geographic, says, "Initially, I got carried away by glamour. Now, I'm looking at doing meaningful shows. I don't want to get stuck. Besides, there are two films coming up. At last, after zipping across the globe, I've settled in an apartment in Mumbai. But I will still remain a global citizen. Today, we all are, isn't it?"

T. KRITHIKA REDDY

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