After struggling for nearly three years, the president of
Indian Documentary Producers’ Association (IDPA) finally had some good news for
the association. They recently signed a five year MOU with the government of
India to showcase documentary films from all over India on Door Darshan with a
slot every week. “The MOU assures a documentary every week, on Sunday and a
certain amount will be given to documentary film makers and a bonus for award
winning documentaries. In India, feature films dominate but documentary films
are given a step motherly treatment,” says Mike Pandey.
He further adds, “Education is the key that opens doors
to many things and different issues. Negotiations are on and we hope to meet
the new ministers in the second week of December.”
Mike is currently working on his latest film, ‘The Return
of the Tiger’, which is supported by John Abraham. “The film will be shot at
Tadoba Tiger Reserve, Maharashtra from January onwards and it will be 90
minutes film. We plan to recreate a few tiger encounters I have experienced
myself. The film will show why it is important to save the wildlife. John
Abraham and I have done a few projects in the past and he will do the narration
for this film. He will also anchor some parts of the film. It was my dream to
shoot with the tigers,” says Mike.
Born and brought up in Nairobi, Mike has had the
wonderful opportunity of growing up amidst the beauty of the wild. “I have an
affinity with nature and I feel that every time I am in the wild, I see a new
page which I find awesome. This is where your versatility as a film maker comes
out. I was waiting for permissions to start shooting the film and now finally I
have been granted the required permission. The film will have a cinematic
release as I want viewers who are not even documentary film viewers to see it
to understand the plight of the tigers,” add Mike.
Mike was the first Asian director to win the Wildscreen
Panda Award, (Green Oscar), for his film ‘The Last Migration – Wild Elephant
Capture in Surguja’. Since then he has won two more Green Oscar awards for
‘Shores of Silence: Whale Sharks in India’ in 2000 and ‘Vanishing Giants’ in
2004. “I don’t want to make predictable films because I want to show the plight
our natural world is in because of what we are doing. Through documentaries, we
have been able to do five legislative changes towards these endangered species,
some globally. Documentaries are meant to be powerful. Watch the films with
your heart and soul,” advises Mike.
