Can you share with us your experience in wildlife filming?

Shekar Dattatri, my partner and I used to choose subjects in which we were interested and what we knew about. Wildlife filming is a total immersion in research about the species and its habitat. Wildlife filming brings you to the conservation aspect of the animal. Like in the past, while doing research, you would have studied just one aspect, but while filming you get to know in a total manner about the animal.

As far as the King Cobra is concerned, you can pick nine out of ten references to the effect that it is dangerous, that it attacks and you know, is likely to chase people. But actually, we found from many of the people who have been around King Cobras, that these snakes primarily want to avoid confrontation with human beings.

As far as filming is concerned, with the aim of getting their natural behaviour, we had to go near to take a close shot. And more than once when the King Cobra was pressed to the limit, it actually charged towards me or towards the cameraman, and stopped just those last few inches. The snake seemed to be telling us "This is the limit, this is the last line and you better not cross it". And because of the risk involved in trying to go close and get a natural shot, and at the same time protect the cameraman, we had a strong safety protocol or what we thought was a strong safety protocol. But in many places, if it wasn't for the snake's reticence and gentlemanly or gentlewomanly behaviour, I would probably not be here talking to you. A bite from the King Cobra is very likely to be fatal.

The most interesting aspect involving the whole filming of 'King Cobra' was that even though we had a strong safety protocol and we imported serum from Thailand, at a great expense, after the filming was over, some tests were done in the United Kingdom with the Indian King Cobra venom and the Thai anti-venom.... It was found that the Thai anti venom was totally useless against the Indian King Cobra venom. So, if I were to be bitten, they could have been injecting vial after vial of the Thai anti-venom all day long and it wouldn't have saved me. That was nice to know after the filming was over.

Depends on which ones you are talking about. There are four or five who are producing international stuff, because they are getting international funding. The quality depends on the funding. And if you want the funding, you need the experience. So if you don't have the experience, you won't get the funding, you can't convince them. It is a real 'catch-22' situation.

If you are really keen on it, you will get out there with whatever you got, a Bolex or whatever. Something like how Shekar Dattatri and myself started. We had no clue and did not know about it and we shot a blooming feature film on our Bolex, a 170-minute film. That is how keen we were..with very small budgets and we did not take salaries. If anyone is that keen on it they will do it.

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