Tag: Valmik Thapar

  • Stripes on Screen as BBC Player Roars with Tiger Day Special

    Stripes on Screen as BBC Player Roars with Tiger Day Special

    MUMBAI: From Ranthambore with roar. This World Tiger Day, BBC Player is sinking its claws into the untamed heart of India with Legendary Tigers of India, a gripping documentary that prowls onto screens this Independence Day, 15 August . Narrated by the late, legendary conservationist Valmik Thapar, the film is more than just stripes and stares. It’s a moving chronicle of survival, strength, and the shifting story of India’s national animal. Thapar, one of the world’s foremost tiger experts, spent a full monsoon-to-monsoon year tracking a new generation of Bengal tigers deep within Ranthambore, one of India’s most iconic tiger reserves.

    With intimate access and five decades of experience behind the lens and in the wild, Thapar offers rare glimpses of tigers not just as apex predators, but as emotionally complex, intuitive creatures navigating shrinking habitats and growing human presence.

    The film roars to life from Thapar’s own jungle home at the forest’s edge, blending dramatic visuals with a deeply personal narrative. From mother cub dynamics to solitary alpha males, the documentary captures the instinctual ballet of survival, mating, territoriality and raw jungle drama woven through the lens of ecological urgency and reverence.

    Premiering exclusively on BBC Player in India via Tata Play Binge and Prime Video (add-on subscription required), this special release is BBC’s tribute to India’s tiger legacy. With India currently home to more than 70 per cent of the world’s wild tigers 3,682, as per the 2023 census the documentary feels both timely and timeless.

    In an age of noisy content, Legendary Tigers of India invites audiences to pause, listen, and marvel. Not just at the majesty of the tiger, but at a conservation journey that began with 1,411 tigers in 2006 and roared back in triumph. This isn’t just a documentary. It’s a call to protect what still prowls.

  • Animal Planet’s new initiative “Where Tigers Rule”

    Animal Planet’s new initiative “Where Tigers Rule”

    MUMBAI: Animal Planet will bring the country’s attention on India’s majestic animal – Tiger – with its special month-long programming initiative WHERE TIGERS RULE.

    Leading Bollywood actors Abhay Deol and Chitrangada Singh have joined India’s leading wildlife channel Animal Planet to create nationwide awareness on the threats affecting tigers’ survival and the acute role tigers play in balancing India’s ecosystem.

    From the breathtaking landscapes of Sundarbans to the magnificent forests of Ranthambore, WHERE TIGERS RULE provides an intimate look into the mysterious world of tigers. Featuring some of the leading tiger experts like Alphonse Roy, Valmik Thapar, Saba Douglas Hamilton, Dave Salmoni, Simon King, John Varty, Niall McCann, WHERE TIGERS RULE showcases the elusive lifestyle of tigers and raise concern about the grave situation of dwindling tiger population.

    With a few thousand tigers left in the wild, every small effort represents hope for their survival.

    Through this engaging month-long line-up, Animal Planet’s WHERE TIGERS RULE highlights the secret lives of this private predator revealing its behaviour, predatory skills, conflict with humans, habitat destruction, poaching and conservation issues.
     

    WHERE TIGERS RULE will air every night at 8 PM from 1st to 31st March, only on Animal Planet.
     

    Commenting on the initiative, Rahul Johri, Senior VP and General Manager – South Asia and Head of Revenue, Pan Regional Ad Sales and Southeast Asia, Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific said,”Tiger is a symbol of wildlife wealth of India and holds an irresistible fascination due to its secretive predatory nature.  Its dwindling population is a matter of great concern.  Animal Planet through its dedicated programming aims to help viewers understand and appreciate this majestic and endangered big cat.”
     

    Leading actor Abhay Deol says, “Tiger is a supreme predator and is an indication of the well-being of our ecosystems. Saving the tiger is not just a choice, it’s our need.  I am hopeful that my association with Animal Planet will help raise consciousness amongst audience in securing the future of this beautiful animal.”
     

    Actor Chitrangada Singh said, “We are left with very few tigers in the wild and if collective action is not taken, the most iconic animal could be wiped off the planet forever.  Animal Planet’s Where Tigers Rule is a wonderful initiative that will sensitise viewers to understand the importance of this charismatic cat.”
     

    Now in its third year, Animal Planet’s WHERE TIGERS RULE has previously been supported by Ajay Devgn, Bipasha Basu and John Abraham.  The cause also gained affiliation from Olympic gold medalist Abhinav Bindra, filmmaker Mike Pandey and conservationists Belinda Wright.
     

    Some of the programmes in line-up include:
     

    SWAMP TIGER documents the life of the most elusive of cats – the royal Bengal tiger of the Sundarbans. Using elaborate night-sight equipment sensitive to moon and stars, the viewers will watch never-seen-before sight of a female tiger covering a carcass with leaves just before dawn and many revelations that follow.
     

    TIGERS NEXT DOOR takes a look at an intimate portrait of Sita, an Indian tigress and her cubs in the forest of Bandhavgarh in Central India.  The film analyses political changes sweeping across the nation which could mean a better future for the locals and tigers alike.
     

    INDIA – KINGDOM OF THE TIGER is a historical epic depicting India from 1910 to the modern era. The film chronicles life of Jim Corbett, the famed English hunter-naturalist, as he races to save an Indian village from the terror of a man-eating tiger.

    Naturalist and filmmaker John Varty and zoologist David Salmoni are the ultimate friends of these beautiful animals. LIVING WITH TIGERS follows their dynamic and ambitious program which has been developed to reintroduce captive tigers into the wild.

     

    TIGER, HUNTING FOR A HOME looks at some of the issues concerning the plight of Tigers and how their existence or extinction impacts life around them.