Wild Dog Diaries
A Krupakar – Senani Film for National Geographic Channel
Producer-Director: Senani Hegde
Camera: Senani Hegde and Krupakar
47 minutes
Reviewer: Shekar Dattatri
The mark of a good film – any kind of film – is that it doesn’t allow one’s attention to wander even for a second. The mark of a good documentary film is that it not only informs and educates us, but also engages our emotions. ‘Wild Dog Diaries’, by Krupakar-Senani Features for the National Geographic Channel, succeeds spectacularly on both counts, taking us on a journey of discovery that is packed with high drama, pathos, tragedy and triumph. In these days, when wildlife films are a dime a dozen, and on television 24x7, ‘Wild Dog Diaries’ belongs in the ‘rarest of rare’ categories - a true classic. The film has already picked up two prestigious awards this year, Best of Festival at the Japan Wildlife Film Festival and Best of Festival at the Vatavaran Environment and Wildlife Film Festival, Delhi.
The Indian wild dog, or dhole, is a little known creature that lives in the shadow of more charismatic predators like the tiger and the leopard. But unlike the two big cats – solitary, camouflaged ambush hunters that inhabit the shadowy undergrowth of the jungle - the russet coloured, pack hunting dhole, with its bushy black tail, literally sticks out like a sore thumb against the green and brown foliage of our forests – at least for us humans with our colour vision.
Notwithstanding this however, it is a notoriously difficult creature to make a film about. Designed by nature to run down their prey, dhole packs are constantly on the move, and are incredibly hard to keep track of. A pack, even in a prey-rich area, can have a home range that is as large as 50-80 sq.km. When this happens to be thickly forested hilly terrain inhabited by wild elephants, tracking the dogs becomes an even trickier proposition. To make a good film on this species you need more than the customary patience and perseverance that is demanded of all wildlife filmmakers; you need to be obsessed. Wildlife filmmakers Senani Hegde and Krupakar have had ‘wild dog fever’ for over a decade, and this is their magnum opus.
Set in Karnataka’s picturesque Bandipur Tiger Reserve, the film revolves around Krupakar’s quest to chronicle the life of one dog pack. His task is frustrated for five long years by the fact that he can only get fleeting glimpses into their lives as they flit through the jungle. His luck finally turns when he befriends Bomma, a tribal elder and expert tracker. Together they set out to unravel the mysteries of the dogs’ lives, succeeding, eventually, beyond their wildest expectations.
Family Life
A typical wild dog pack consists of an alpha male and an alpha female, and their offspring. Only the alpha female is allowed to bear pups, sired by the alpha male. Their offspring, when full grown, form a close-knit team with the parents, sharing hunting and sentry duties and helping to take care of their mother’s next litter. Gradually, these bachelor males and females find mates outside the pack and begin families of their own.
The alpha female of ‘Krupakar’s pack’ is christened Kamali, after Bomma’s favourite neice. A veteran of many years, she often leads her pack on hunts. To film the intimate lives of the restless dogs, Krupakar and Bomma must first get the pack to accept their presence – not an easy task. Like most animals in India’s jungles, wild dogs have not had a comfortable history with humans and are, naturally, wary. While it is possible to approach them within close proximity in a vehicle, it takes enormous patience and perseverance to get them to accept human presence on foot. Yet, it is this crucial breakthrough that enables the filmmakers to record scenes never filmed before.
Fearless Predators
Despite their small size – a wild dog is not much larger than a well-fed village dog – dholes are renowned for their courage and audacity in taking on animals much larger and more powerful than themselves. There is a remarkable scene in the film where the pack trees a leopard, which growls and snarls at them but, prudently, waits for the pack to leave before climbing down! In another scene, the members of the pack saunter about nonchalantly while being chased by hysterical, trumpeting elephants. Moments like these are not often witnessed, and they have been filmed with great presence of mind.
Like all wildlife filmmakers working with predators, Krupakar too is anxious to film the dogs’ hunting behaviour. But although he is able to film the electrifying early moments of the chase, the final kill eludes him. Twice he manages to be at the right place at the right time but luck deserts him at the last moment. A predator film cannot be complete without a kill, and we can well imagine the filmmakers’ anxieties about capturing this crucial sequence. In Bandipur, as in many other Indian jungles, local people often follow hunting dhole packs and steal their kills. This practice has made dholes even more wary of humans, and they usually abandon the chase when humans are close by. It is through a combination of good fortune and their rapport with the dogs that Krupakar and Senani finally managed to capture an exciting kill.
They have some other anxious moments as well, when the antler of a chital stag injures Kamali, the alpha female, during a hunt. In tropical weather, a deep wound can easily turn septic - and fatal. The death of the alpha female can throw a pack into turmoil; luckily, Kamali recovers to hunt another day. The film’s greatest strength is that it manages to immerse us completely in the trials and tribulations of both, the human characters, and the dog pack. Krupakar and Bomma are charismatic, and the dogs endear themselves to us through their antics.
Skillful storytelling
Wildlife films are finally brought together at the editing table, where hours of diverse material are cobbled together into a coherent whole, usually lasting no more than an hour. It is to the great credit of director Senani Hegde and editor Saravanakumar, that they have succeeded so well in knitting together the many strands of the storyline into a deeply engrossing documentary, where not a frame is wasted. Every element of the film, from the skillful camerawork to the music and script has been woven together to give us an excellent portrait of a secretive predator. This is not the first film on Indian wild dogs, but it certainly is the best one yet. The icing on the cake, for the filmmakers and for us, is the final scene where we get to see Kamali with her new litter of pups. Dholes are warier than usual when pups are born, and this sequence is a testimony to the filmmakers’ patience and perseverance in winning the pack’s trust. It is the perfect ending to an enthralling tale that grips us from the word go and leaves us wanting more.
(The reviewer is a wildlife filmmaker)
A Krupakar – Senani Film for National Geographic Channel
Producer-Director: Senani Hegde
Camera: Senani Hegde and Krupakar
47 minutes
Reviewer: Shekar Dattatri
The mark of a good film – any kind of film – is that it doesn’t allow one’s attention to wander even for a second. The mark of a good documentary film is that it not only informs and educates us, but also engages our emotions. ‘Wild Dog Diaries’, by Krupakar-Senani Features for the National Geographic Channel, succeeds spectacularly on both counts, taking us on a journey of discovery that is packed with high drama, pathos, tragedy and triumph. In these days, when wildlife films are a dime a dozen, and on television 24x7, ‘Wild Dog Diaries’ belongs in the ‘rarest of rare’ categories - a true classic. The film has already picked up two prestigious awards this year, Best of Festival at the Japan Wildlife Film Festival and Best of Festival at the Vatavaran Environment and Wildlife Film Festival, Delhi.
The Indian wild dog, or dhole, is a little known creature that lives in the shadow of more charismatic predators like the tiger and the leopard. But unlike the two big cats – solitary, camouflaged ambush hunters that inhabit the shadowy undergrowth of the jungle - the russet coloured, pack hunting dhole, with its bushy black tail, literally sticks out like a sore thumb against the green and brown foliage of our forests – at least for us humans with our colour vision.
Notwithstanding this however, it is a notoriously difficult creature to make a film about. Designed by nature to run down their prey, dhole packs are constantly on the move, and are incredibly hard to keep track of. A pack, even in a prey-rich area, can have a home range that is as large as 50-80 sq.km. When this happens to be thickly forested hilly terrain inhabited by wild elephants, tracking the dogs becomes an even trickier proposition. To make a good film on this species you need more than the customary patience and perseverance that is demanded of all wildlife filmmakers; you need to be obsessed. Wildlife filmmakers Senani Hegde and Krupakar have had ‘wild dog fever’ for over a decade, and this is their magnum opus.
Set in Karnataka’s picturesque Bandipur Tiger Reserve, the film revolves around Krupakar’s quest to chronicle the life of one dog pack. His task is frustrated for five long years by the fact that he can only get fleeting glimpses into their lives as they flit through the jungle. His luck finally turns when he befriends Bomma, a tribal elder and expert tracker. Together they set out to unravel the mysteries of the dogs’ lives, succeeding, eventually, beyond their wildest expectations.
Family Life
A typical wild dog pack consists of an alpha male and an alpha female, and their offspring. Only the alpha female is allowed to bear pups, sired by the alpha male. Their offspring, when full grown, form a close-knit team with the parents, sharing hunting and sentry duties and helping to take care of their mother’s next litter. Gradually, these bachelor males and females find mates outside the pack and begin families of their own.
The alpha female of ‘Krupakar’s pack’ is christened Kamali, after Bomma’s favourite neice. A veteran of many years, she often leads her pack on hunts. To film the intimate lives of the restless dogs, Krupakar and Bomma must first get the pack to accept their presence – not an easy task. Like most animals in India’s jungles, wild dogs have not had a comfortable history with humans and are, naturally, wary. While it is possible to approach them within close proximity in a vehicle, it takes enormous patience and perseverance to get them to accept human presence on foot. Yet, it is this crucial breakthrough that enables the filmmakers to record scenes never filmed before.
Fearless Predators
Despite their small size – a wild dog is not much larger than a well-fed village dog – dholes are renowned for their courage and audacity in taking on animals much larger and more powerful than themselves. There is a remarkable scene in the film where the pack trees a leopard, which growls and snarls at them but, prudently, waits for the pack to leave before climbing down! In another scene, the members of the pack saunter about nonchalantly while being chased by hysterical, trumpeting elephants. Moments like these are not often witnessed, and they have been filmed with great presence of mind.
Like all wildlife filmmakers working with predators, Krupakar too is anxious to film the dogs’ hunting behaviour. But although he is able to film the electrifying early moments of the chase, the final kill eludes him. Twice he manages to be at the right place at the right time but luck deserts him at the last moment. A predator film cannot be complete without a kill, and we can well imagine the filmmakers’ anxieties about capturing this crucial sequence. In Bandipur, as in many other Indian jungles, local people often follow hunting dhole packs and steal their kills. This practice has made dholes even more wary of humans, and they usually abandon the chase when humans are close by. It is through a combination of good fortune and their rapport with the dogs that Krupakar and Senani finally managed to capture an exciting kill.
They have some other anxious moments as well, when the antler of a chital stag injures Kamali, the alpha female, during a hunt. In tropical weather, a deep wound can easily turn septic - and fatal. The death of the alpha female can throw a pack into turmoil; luckily, Kamali recovers to hunt another day. The film’s greatest strength is that it manages to immerse us completely in the trials and tribulations of both, the human characters, and the dog pack. Krupakar and Bomma are charismatic, and the dogs endear themselves to us through their antics.
Skillful storytelling
Wildlife films are finally brought together at the editing table, where hours of diverse material are cobbled together into a coherent whole, usually lasting no more than an hour. It is to the great credit of director Senani Hegde and editor Saravanakumar, that they have succeeded so well in knitting together the many strands of the storyline into a deeply engrossing documentary, where not a frame is wasted. Every element of the film, from the skillful camerawork to the music and script has been woven together to give us an excellent portrait of a secretive predator. This is not the first film on Indian wild dogs, but it certainly is the best one yet. The icing on the cake, for the filmmakers and for us, is the final scene where we get to see Kamali with her new litter of pups. Dholes are warier than usual when pups are born, and this sequence is a testimony to the filmmakers’ patience and perseverance in winning the pack’s trust. It is the perfect ending to an enthralling tale that grips us from the word go and leaves us wanting more.
(The reviewer is a wildlife filmmaker)
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