PM Modi meets Guneet Monga & Kartiki Gonsalves, hails 'brilliant' Oscar-winning 'The Elephant Whisperers' team

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a chance to meet the team of 'The Elephant Whisperers' - who brought home the Oscar trophy earlier this month - on Thursday evening.

Calling the Oscar-winning documentary a "cinematic brilliance", PM Modi was thrilled to witness how the movie's success has drawn global attention to India. "Today, I had the opportunity to meet the brilliant team associated with it. They have made India very proud," he wrote in his tweet alongside images of him holding the Oscar trophy.

'The Elephant Whisperers' team - producer Guneet Monga, director Kartiki Gonsalves and Netflix Vice President (Content) Monika Shergill - dressed their best to meet PM Modi. The ladies opted for a black and blue ensemble, and the PM wore a white kurta-pyjama with a bright yellow Nehru jacket.


Soon after, Monga took to Twitter to thank PM Modi for his kind words. "We are truly honoured to have met you today and share with you the Oscar that India has won for 'The Elephant Whisperers'. Grateful for your appreciation for this cherished moment for Sikhya Entertainment," she wrote quote-tweeting Modi's post.


Gonsalves also shared the same set of pictures and said she was grateful to have met the Prime Minister and celebrate India’s win with him.


Later in the day, the 'The Elephant Whisperers' team also met I&B Minister Anurag Thakur.

The Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports heaped praises for the women leading the team of the Best Original Documentary Short Film at the 95th Academy Awards.

"The power of India’s storytelling is unmatched! 'The Elephant Whisperers' is a 'trunk' full of heartwarming, socially relevant and cinematographically enthralling masterpiece! Delighted to meet Guneet & Kartiki, and learn about their amazing journey while making this spellbinding documentary," his tweet read.


In another picture with Shergill, the I&B Minister wrote, "India is a land of storytellers, a million tales are born each day & some retold for generations. Our regional content has gone global; it is dubbed and enjoyed in every part of the world. India is bustling with stories & a new breed of film-makers is hustling to capture them!"

Thakur also shared a picture of the stars of the documentary Bomman and Bellie holding the Oscar trophy and said he wanted to meet them. He wrote, "Hope to meet Bomman and Bellie too; their life & conservation efforts are remarkable! Success & recognition given to our film-makers encourages them, even more, to narrate these beautiful stories in our society & make them available for every1 through cinema."

Helmed by debutant Gonsalves, the 41-minute short documentary movie explores the bond between an orphaned baby elephant, Raghu, and his caretakers - Bomman and Bellie - who devote their lives to protect him from poachers and raise him. The mahout couple were appointed by the Tamil Nadu forest department to take care of abandoned calves.

The project, backed by Monga's banner Sikhya Entertainment, beat four other contenders to win the prestigious statuette. 'The Elephant Whisperers' was competing against 'Haul Out,' 'How Do You Measure A Year?', 'The Martha Mitchell Effect,' and 'Stranger At The Gate'.

This is the second Oscar win for Monga. She had previously served as an executive producer on 'Period. End of Sentence', which won the 2019 Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Film.