The opening sequence of ‘Poacher’, which fills the frame with the horrific sight of a dead elephant, is an indication that this eight-part series will pull no punches. A majestic beast has to be ruthlessly killed in order to extract its tusks, and the hunters who do this are monsters, with not a shred of compassion in them. You see tusks being extracted, you see the blood, and you feel sickened and furious.
In 1991, hunting was made illegal in the amended Indian Wildlife Act. In 1995, the voluntary admission of a conscience-stricken poacher led the forest department in Kerala to unearth one of the biggest elephant poaching operations in the country, with its tentacles reaching out to the Triads and other extremely dangerous gangs.
That writer-director Richie Mehta (with the Emmy-winning ‘Delhi Crime’ behind him) has researched the subject deeply is quite evident in the way the act of poaching is depicted, as rings after rings of complicit characters spread across the country come to light. That care has been taken to keep it rooted and authentic is clear in the choice of its cast, the Malayalam-speaking actors — Nimisha Sajayan, Roshan Mathew, Kani Kusruti, among others — doing a great job of playing their parts.
Sajayan is Mala, a forest officer who is the daughter of a man who was a hunter. Filled with remorse, she wants to make amends, and to this end, she comes off as driven and drawn, unable to rest or sleep till the culprits are unearthed. Mathew is Alan, a number cruncher who connects the dots with the help of reams of telephone records. Dibyendu plays Neel, their senior, making light of his mortal sickness, aware of the dangers of going down this righteous path filled with all the wrong people.
Also Read | What happens when a Punjabi and a Marxist walk into a bar? Love Storiyaan unpacks the making of a lover
The choice of the locations, lush, green, dense, is perfect. What’s also nice is the team is shown in their domestic arenas as well– and I’m using the word ‘arena’ advisedly– because that’s what it is: the people who fight these battles aren’t given time off, they are on the job all the time. Mala’s mother, Alan’s wife, Neel’s family all come second: their first and only priority is to save the mighty elephant.
A couple of problems here: the series does slump in the middle, and after the third episode, it starts feeling stretched (each episode is nearly 45-50 minutes). The fact that some of the characters show up just to lecture on the situation, feels like unnecessary exposition. Sajayan is really good as the uptight young woman, tightly wound up by the sins of her father, but you wish she would loosen up a little, or she is in danger of coming off as single-note. Mathew is terrific, as is Dibyendu, and I miss Kursruti when she’s not there; you wish she had been given more to do. The supporting cast is excellent, too.
The other problem is that it has been made more dramatic than necessary for a series of this nature, and you feel this the most in the last episode (the eighth) in which our bravehearts crack the mystery, and fetch up at a Delhi colony to retrieve the contraband. The posse of ‘bad characters’ that starts surrounding the house, begins feeling like the Wild West: good for adrenaline- thumping (for those who don’t really know that area of Delhi), not so much for feeling real.
But these are small things. On the big things, ‘Poacher’ — with Alia Bhatt as the executive producer — is spot on, especially in the way the camera seems to capture big and small animals lurking in the most unexpected urban places, even if they are clearly computer-generated: it is us humans who are the invaders, and the only way we can keep the balance of man and nature in check, is to leave the animals alone.
Poacher cast: Nimisha Sajayan, Roshan Mathew, Dibyendu Bhattacharya, Kani Kusruti
Poacher director: Richie Mehta
Poacher rating: 3 stars
Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.
