Rahul Desai
Based on the 2015 investigation of the largest ivory poaching ring in Indian history – inherits the form of an Indian superhero movie. It is to convey the value of a wildlife-saving story in a world where the premium of human life keeps reducing.
Their obsession with nature is credible because it is shaped by a disillusionment with human nature. For them, ivory poachers are environmental terrorists, and killing elephants is like murdering the future of a planet that’s gasping for breath.
You could argue that this amounts to the whitewashing of those responsible for security lapses, but Mehta somehow trades civic angst for moral agency. It’s a fine line, one that puts Poacher in the same bracket as Delhi Crime.
The craft doesn’t scream for attention, despite the vast scale and potential for aesthetics, yet it’s just about tangible enough to inform the themes. centered on the creation of ivory idols – speaks volumes about the theocratic mess that follows.
The cinematography is steeped in overcast hues, but it doesn’t lean into the atmospherics of a place. It’s almost like there’s a conscious distinction between the fog of Kerala and the smog of Delhi; between narrative and literal haze.
The multilingual setting – Banerjee communicates with his South Indian subordinates in Hindi and English, while Mala and Arun speak in Malayalam – feels more seamlessly Indian than pan-Indian. ‘Pan-Indian’ implies that diversity is a visible entity.