Amid the dense forests and wide-open lands in the heart of Tamil Nadu’s wilderness, there are layered lives that coexist in the absence of a leadership; with their different sounds, multiple legs, and unwritten rules — sometimes in battle and on the lookout but always in harmony with the land they call home, forming a rich ecological symphony. These physical spaces make Tamil Nadu a shelter for the most biodiverse landscapes in the country.
Following the success of Wild Karnataka — a documentary directed by Bengaluru-based conservationists Amoghavarsha JS and Kalyan Varma — in 2020, Arathi Krishna, managing director of Sundram Fasteners Ltd, reached out to the Emmy-nominated filmmaker Kalyan to orchestrate a documentary “appreciating and admiring the state’s [Tamil Nadu] incredible biodiversity and the cultural connection that our people have shared with nature.”
Backed by Sundaram Fasteners, director Kalyan scheduled his recce sessions while building a team of musician Ricky Kej, actor Arvind Swamy for narration, co-director and editor Akhilesh Tambe, and executive producer Rohit Varma. The result is an hour-long visual odyssey that stretches from the mountains of the Western Ghats to the deep edges of the Indian Ocean. Premiered on October 16 at PVR Sathyam, Wild Tamil Nadu is a visually striking chronicle of how land, language, and life converge in the state. It is a journey that took nearly five years, countless permissions, and more than a thousand hours of raw footage.
A rooted narrative
The initial stages were as extensive as terrains, in depth as oceans, hitting peaks and bases as mountains, and sometimes as thorny as cropfields. “Our first job was to look at the landscapes and find out which species exhibited what behaviour, while also finding out the right place and time to film them,” shares the director.
Wanting to create a balance of large, well-known animals and lesser-known ones, the team did on-field research by reaching out to local people in each of these areas to find out the best time to film, which stories could be realistically aimed for, and also did the local paperwork with the forest department. Kalyan narrates, “About half the shoots in the film were planned ahead, but the other half of the stories were reaction-based. We would get a call from a local that the behaviour had started, and we responded within a day to capture them.”
Paying ode to the poetry of the land, the filmmakers built the story around ancient Tamil Sangam literature, dividing the land into five ecological zones — hills (kurinji), forests (mullai), fields (marutham), coasts (neithal), and deserts (palai). “Each chapter of the documentary corresponds to one of these zones. This gave the film a clear narrative structure. In visuals, we tried to match the poetry. For example, capturing misty mountain scenes for kurinji and wide-open scrublands for palai. Using Sangam ideas helped connect the wildlife to Tamil culture and history, making the film both scientific and soulful.”
Wait in the wilderness
Each frame of these five landscapes celebrating the culture and ecological richness is a result of precision — using 8K cameras, drones, long zoom lenses, and sometimes sitting in close hiding — patience to capture tigers resting in bushes, Nilgiri Tahr unmoved by the rain or the tiny Madras hedgehog scurrying across desert scrub, and following protocols to film in protected areas, guided by forest guards and the forest department.
Covid halted the progress for nearly two years, forcing the crew to stay confined. “We almost lost two critical filming years, although we managed to pull off a few shoots. In locations such as the Pulicat Lake, we had to film over four winters, and only in the final year, we managed to capture some rare behaviour,” notes Kalyan. In setting up each of these shots — in peak summer and winters — the crew ensured that the animals were not bothered. Kalyan recollects, “From silently moving elephants gliding among the trees and even climbing mountains and glowing fireflies creating a magical sight against the dark forest to rare endemic animals like the Madras hedgehog and the lion-tailed macaque, we filmed many unforgettable moments giving viewers a rare glimpse of species almost no one has seen.”
The film also features shots in human landscapes — tea estates of Valparai, croplands, and fishing hamlets — comprising over 60%. “It was amazing to see that people accept wildlife in their backyard, and even with their lives and livelihoods at risk, they still co-exist with wildlife. I cannot imagine any other country in the world where nature and people co-exist together with mutual respect.”
Out of the screen, on the streets
The documentary is a reminder that “nature and culture are deeply intertwined here,” shares Arathi. For the producer, the documentary isn’t just a story about wildlife. “It’s about us, our identity, and the legacy we leave behind. It’s my way of saying — this is who we are and this is what we must protect.”
Acknowledging the expansive efforts and the need to create conversations around it, Arathi hopes to take the documentary beyond the silver screen, film festival, and private screening. “Our goal is to collaborate with educational institutions, environmental forums, and digital platforms to make the documentary accessible to schools and communities,” she shares.
Once viewed by people of the state, Arathi wishes for them to walk out with a sense of wonder, pride, and renewed commitment to conservation, since it begins with awareness, and “we want this film to be a catalyst for that dialogue,” she notes.
We live in a time when nature is constantly evolving owing to urbanisation, climate change, and shrinking green spaces. These real issues require people to be constantly reminded of what is still out there that is worth fighting for. “It is for people in the state to know what they have and in the future, when we need support to save these species or wild spaces, people will rise up,” concludes Kalyan.
