19-07-2025
A wild harmony: Nilgiris documentary captures nature's quiet resilience
In an era of digitally manufactured visuals and AI-generated nature scenes, Nilgiris: A Shared Wilderness stands out as a real, patient, and visually arresting documentary. Directed by Sandesh Kadur and produced by Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies, it is India's first feature-length wildlife documentary to get a theatrical release—and one that deserves to be seen on the big screen.
The film camera can be a magical thing. The Sony RED delivers unforgettable visual callisthenics, capturing the shifting moods of the Nilgiris with stunning clarity. The cinematography—by Kadur, Nakul Raj, Robin Conz, Sameer Jain and Parinith Gowda—effortlessly traverses gorges and waterfalls, clouds, and mist, and the drama of animals in their natural habitat. Yet, what matches its visual grandeur is the quiet message the film unspools: modern wildlife, and the wildlife of our futures, is not hidden or distant. We co-exist with it.
Among the standout moments: a Salea lizard, found only in the Nilgiris, weaving through garden undergrowth in a private Ooty bungalow; a tiger resting atop a hill, human habitation twinkling below.
Moments like these took several months to capture, Kadur says. Shot over three years and edited from 400 hours of footage—from CCTV, trap cams, and handheld cameras—the film is relentless and patient in its observation of the often-overlooked dramas in the blue mountains.
Rohini Nilekani, chairperson of Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies and executive producer, calls it one of her passion projects. She joined the crew on a few shooting trips herself. The highlight for her: 'It was magical to watch the cubs play out in the open, surrounded by tea, so trusting of the humans around them. I was in awe," Nilekani says, recalling the sight of a mother leopard and her four cubs—two of them melanistic black leopards.
For Kadur, who has previously directed a documentary on the Western Ghats, the shoot had its own serendipitous moments. One of the most powerful scenes features a Great Hornbill chick struggling out of its nest and emerging into the world for the first time.
Nilekani and her family bought a second home in the Nilgiris 20 years ago. Realising that there was no substantial documentation of the region's human-wildlife co-existence, she, her husband Nandan Nilekani, and Kadur—a long-time friend—decided to begin work on the film.
'Maybe with so much wildlife now outside protected areas, we need to create a new culture of protection. For that, we have to understand how beautiful and critical our biodiversity is, we have to fall in love with it. Human thriving is dependent on the enhancement of our forests, our flora and our fauna. Our water, future medicines, and future technologies are hidden in our natural heritage, waiting to be discovered," Nilekani says.
'Where else in the world can you have black leopards, gaur, sloth bear, living in a tea garden? Although it's in a constant state of change, it also shows nature's resilience; adaptability to survive the odds if we allow them the space to do so," Kadur says, about their shared worldview.
The environment and climate are among the largest focus areas in the Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies portfolio, with the organisation supporting several institutions across India—including in the Nilgiris. 'This is my first time as an executive producer. I really enjoyed the experience and learnt a lot. I hope young children, who are the future trustees of our biodiversity, will watch this film," says Nilekani.
Nilgiris: A Shared Wilderness is currently screening in select theatres in Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mysore, Mangalore, Coimbatore, Ooty, Mumbai, Pune, Goa, Kochi and other cities. Student tickets are available at a discount.
Most nature documentaries in recent decades have focused on the damage caused by human expansion and the looming extinction of wild species. This film offers something different: a story of hope, fragility, and interconnectedness. In the Nilgiris, wildlife spills beyond forests into tea gardens and private homes. Leopards and gaur are seen cohabiting with humans. While global wildlife numbers are in decline, the Nilgiris present what Kadur calls a 'reverse story."
In scope, sentiment, and execution, Nilgiris: A Shared Wilderness is a magnificent outlier—one to be savoured on the big screen. The documentary released in theatres on Friday.
Sanjukta Sharma is a Mumbai-based journalist.
