The journey of watching “Poacher” filled me with many thoughts. I was a little late to the party though. The brutal killing of elephants kept me away from watching this series, for a brief period. I’m a fan of elephants, with strong feelings about their use and abuse. Elephants in captivity, to me is unnatural, and the display of ivory in the form of jewellery and home décor, troubles me even more. But I finally succumbed and watched this series on Amazon Prime, and am really glad I did. Once I began, it was pretty much a binge-watch all the way.
The story beautifully unfolds in stunning Kerala forests. Trigger warning – almost every episode opens with the death of a beautiful beast.
The series begins with a very troubled forest worker Arruku, who has been a party to poaching, confessing to a forest officer of his misdeeds. The forest officer is rather casual in his attitude and does not take the confession seriously; he believes there is absolutely no potential for poaching, under his watch.
However, one very determined forest offer Mala Jogi, sets things in motion as she acts on the poaching intelligence. When she discovers that at least 18 elephants have killed, her emotions are sufficient triggered to resolved to bring all the culprits to task. Pretty soon a dedicated, close-knit, special task force is established by Neel Banerjee, a field director and veteran in the space.
He invites Mala to lead the task force due to her dedication and shrewd instincts. She, in turn, gets on board, Alan Joseph, a maverick conservationist with tech skills and a deep love for forests, who works undercover masquerading as a techie in the IT industry.
Together, they begin the journey of unraveling the nexus between the local poachers, gunsmiths, artisans whose livelihoods are depending on the ivory trade, and the middle men (and women), and buyers who are wealthy. The income disparity between the various players becomes more and more evident, as the series progresses.
Unlike the gangster-focused shows I’ve seen that are set in the hinterlands of the North and metros, this show is not violent or gory. But it subtly indicates the violence and suffering that happens at various levels – the challenging lives led by the elephants, communities whose livelihoods are dependent on poaching, and the lives of the forest officers and workers, who seem to be overworked and underpaid.
The characters are quite well-etched in terms of their back stories, value systems, and motivations. There are also many endearing moments that spark delight in a viewer, and alongside, unravelling nature’s bounty and strength.
Alan’s character, for instance, has a deep understanding, no, love, of snakes. Having cultivated a reputation as a snake expert, he sometimes poses as a doctor, guiding real doctors in the healing of snake bites. He finds ways to justify the deception. He also often opens up his world to his wife and son, sharing experiences and moment with nature, that take their breath away.
Mala’s connection to elephants is captured best in those moments when she unexpectedly sets eyes on a herd of elephants, walking in the wild. She stops dead in her tracks, and has a look of awe and respect, as if she is bewitched by the grandeur of elephants. Being the progeny of poachers, her life’s mission seems to be to atone for the sins of her father. It is revealed that at age 3, she yelled at her father with all her might for killing an elephant. That is the moment her father realizes that his child isn’t going to follow in his footsteps and carry on his hunting legacy. Instead, she spends her life becoming a custodian of the forest, guarding it with all her individual might.
Neel Banerjee, on the other hand, has a passion, or rather obsession for turtles. “Turtle is the only living being that carries its home on his back. I really wish I was a turtle,” he confesses earnestly to his niece, while bribing her with a tiny turtle curio, in exchange for keeping his secrets.
Another story that really stirred me was that of Arruku, who is lured into the poaching game with the promise of financial gain. It is revealed that his forest work is poorly compensated, and he has a family, including a son with a disability, to support. Despite succumbing to the trade, he feels deeply for the elephants. He experiences a chilling moment when he realizes that Raaz, the chief poacher not only kills for tusks, but his bloodlust leads him to shoot a unsuspecting young female elephant for pleasure.
The pain Arruku feels in that moment because of his role in the mindless killing of the elephant is beautifully captured; it stayed with me a long time.
The poaching business is one that is hard to emerge from, even if one wants to, and this aspect is captured well in the series. This narrative crops up in the story of Sasi Illampally, father of a spirited young girl.
The love he feels for his daughter, and the love she feels for him, is evident. Her well-being is a key motivator that nudged him to give up the trade. Yet, his past catches up with him every now and then, and he must balance good intentions with self-preservation.
He succumbs to pressure and sells three old tusks to a politico for fear of retribution, should he refuse. When his link with the sale is discovered, he must navigate a fragile situation, causing a lot of stress to his family. This is challenging to watch, but probably a reality for poachers with a past.
When watching this aspect, I am reminded of a strategy used by Wildlife SOS to end the captivity of sloth bears, also known as dancing bears. I’ll take a brief detour from the series, at this point, to quote an example of when all stakeholders in an abusive trade were cared for.
The dancing bear trade was practiced by the Kalandar community, a nomadic tribe, for centuries. The dancing bears served as entertainment, earning their owners a daily income. The bears are victims of captivity and abuse, while the owners are victims of poverty. Wildlife SOS’ massive undertaking served to rescue the bears, while rehabilitating the owners who were incentivized to give them up in exchange for skilling, and entrepreneurship support. Women folk of the community also received skilling, and children were enrolled in schools, and supported with school supplies.
The ‘Dancing Bear- Project’ was executed by Wildlife SOS in association with the Ministry of Environment and Forests, the Govt. of India and the state forests departments. Yes, it takes a village. So where did all the dancing bears go? They were placed at various bear reserves across the country, and spend their days enjoying enrichments, playing with each other, and making little bears.
Coming back to Poacher, many of the characters are based on their real-life counterparts who executed Operation Shikhar, which cracked down on 464 kg of ivory in 2016.
However, Mala is an amalgamation of various male characters. My one grouse with her characterization is that she is a positioned as a single woman who quite easily triggered in complex circumstances. She harbours a deep-rooted mix of resentment and guilt, due to the sins of the father. These conflicted, unresolved emotions set her on a war path, and in her quest to crack down the elephant murderers, she sometimes ends up roughhousing even women and children, though eventually she always does what is right.
This treatment of a leading female character reminds me of a phase where all the leading Hollywood shows (like Homeland) had single women at the helm, but all had mental health challenges. The key aspect eluding them is peace. The stress placed on single, ambitious, talented and capable women to follow convention, also perhaps adds to the pressure cocktail.
Nevertheless, Mala’s character is one to be admired, for her courage, ingenuity, and deep-rooted goodness. Her ability to improvise on the spot, and concoct inventive plots serve the investigation and help her turn around many a fragile situation.
Besides paving the way for breakthrough in the case, these plots often bring a certain comic relief, thus making “Poacher” an endearing, humorous watch, despite, dealing with a pretty dark, intense subject.
There’s also a common motif running through the show – various scenes start with shots of animals placed in the concrete and real jungles before panning to the action of the scene – a baby money climbing up an electric pole, a porcupine hiding in the grass, and the pained look of a tiger discovering an elephant carcass. These touches are so thoughtful, and remind us that there’s a world out there that is being ruined by human beings, and we need to be mindful of what we are denying other species.
I’d like to end by sharing that the show implies that the killing of elephants, despite all efforts, may continue. This is because the end buyers of ivory comprise some of the richest, most powerful and prominent people, with eccentric tastes. There’s a scene with heartbreaking significance, for instance, where a forest officer uncovers a statue of Lord Ganesha made of ivory. In another scene, the forest team discovers an ivory shivling. Hopefully Poacher will come out with more seasons that shed light on this side of the ivory trade nexus.
If you’ve been sitting on the fence about watching Poacher, I recommend you go ahead and watch it. This is an intelligent, visually-striking series with a vibrant script and storytelling, and great potential to be a repeat watch.
PS: Poacher is created and directed by Richie Mehta, with Alia Bhatt on board as the executive producer (Richie also created the sensitively-made series Delhi Crime).