The awards that Shekar Dattatri — wild-life photographer, film-maker, author, conservationist — has won are so many that even his website does not list all of them! His fascination for wildlife began when he was 13. His first film, A Cooperative for Snake Catchers won the National Award in 1987 for Best Scientific Film. His next two documentaries, Seeds of Hope , and Silent Valley - An Indian Rainforest are also National Award winners.
In 1991, with an Inlaks Scholarship, he spent eight months working with Oxford Scientific Films in the U.K. Since then, he has worked with major natural history channels, has been rated a top star of wild-life film-making and has served on the final juries of prestigious wildlife/environmental film festivals.
From 2007 to 2010, he was a member of the National Board for Wildlife. He is the co-founder of Conservation India, an online portal to enable conservation action. One of his hard-hitting films, Mindless Mining – The Tragedy of Kudremukh, helped bring an end to iron ore mining within a rainforest National Park in south India. Excerpts from the interview:
Your influence during college
I studied Zoology at Loyola College in Chennai. The principal of the college then was Rev. Fr. Kuriakose and was extremely supportive of me. He regularly overlooked my lack of minimum attendance as he knew of my extracurricular activities at the Madras Snake Park.
An experience that shaped your passion for nature conservation
Between 10 to 13 years, reading books by Gerald Durrell, George Schaller, Jane Goodall and Rachel Carson influenced me. At 13, I joined the Madras Snake Park as a volunteer and started gaining practical experience in wildlife and conservation.
Lessons from college
I learnt very little of any use in college! I spent half my college years at the Snake Park, where I learnt a tremendous amount about reptiles, wildlife and conservation.
Unforgettable experience?
In 1998, my crew and I were filming in the famous Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan. One day, we were in our jeep following a tigress with three large cubs. The big cats were walking towards a rock pool, and knowing they would play and lounge in the pool for hours, I started constructing the sequence I was going to film and felt that the footage was in the bag. But when the four tigers turned a corner, suddenly there were loud snarls and roars and the tigers took off in different directions, shattering my dreams. Then we saw a sadhu walking towards us. He was returning after a visit to the forest shrine! This incident reinforced to me that, with wildlife film-making, you haven’t got something until you have actually got it!
Plans for conservation
During the last 30 years, I have made, or have worked on about 30 documentaries on wildlife and conservation. I shall continue doing that.
A piece of advice
Develop interest in something other than academics and pursue that with passion through your school and college years. Wildlife film-making is an extremely specialised field, and apart from talent and skill, you need tremendous perseverance and patience, and must be willing to work for the joy of it rather than with an idea of making big money.
