The story of
India and tigers is brought to "a larger than life giant screen experience"
through the compelling tale of Edward James (Jim) Corbett, an Englishman born in 1875 in
India during British rule. Corbett, once considered to be the most accomplished hunter of
his time, had a profound attachment to the country of his birth and its people. Through
his story and the stunning images of natural tiger behavior, "India – Kingdom
of the Tiger" shows us the fantastic images of the Bengal tiger and the land it
once claimed as its kingdom. Just as if you were there, the film visually and dramatically
tells how the encroachment of the burgeoning human populations on the tiger’s natural
habitat acted as a key factor that has led to its crisis between man and animal.
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India. 1910.
Two sisters, are working some distance apart in a terraced mountain field in the village
of Mukteshwar, India. There is an eerie stillness that makes Shanta stop her work.
"What is it?" calls Jaya. But Shanta, frozen in fear, cannot reply. There is a
flash of yellow and black. The blood drains from Jaya’s face as she watches a tiger
pounce on Shanta. There is a loud scream followed by silence.
Several days
pass, and in a northern town far from Mukteshwar, we see a young Corbett standing in a
train yard amidst cargo. An anxious messenger approaches him with a telegram. In it is a
plea for Corbett to leave his duties with the Indian railways and travel to Mukteshwar, a
remote village in the Kumaon Mountains, to save the villagers from being terrorized by a
rogue tigress. Reluctantly, he agrees to accept the mission for the safety of the village.
As he travels
across the country, Corbett’s narrative evokes the rich history of India. From a
caravan of camels moving across an arid landscape, to the walls of a towering Mughal fort,
Corbett’s voice guides us through the world of India’s unique spiritual and
cultural mosaic. Together we witness the man-made wonders of architecture and art,
inspired by one of the most religiously diverse cultures in the world.
Amidst the
towering hills and deep cut valleys of the Himalayan foothills rests the small village of
Mukteshwar. Upon arrival, Corbett walks toward a gathering of cottages where the expectant
villagers warmly greet him. He is informed that twenty more people have fallen prey to the
tigress. Despite this news he is still uneasy about his purpose, but nonetheless, sets off
for the forests in search of the man-eater. On their way, they encounter the tigress’
paw marks, and find a man’s sandal. The man himself has climbed a tree to get away
from the tiger.
Night falls and
Corbett settles down for the watch high up in a tree close to where they have tracked the
tigress’ latest kill. He has spent many an evening like this before, patiently
waiting for a glimpse of a tiger. This time, Jaya and a group of local men accompany him,
for it is in their interests to protect their community from further danger. Jaya is
determined to help find the animal that took her sister’s life. Over the nights they
spend in waiting, Corbett tells his companions of his boyhood memories in this very
region. Dramatic beams of sunlight pierce the jungle foliage, and we see Corbett as a
young boy in the wilderness, full of curiosity about the nature that surrounds him.
A rustling below
breaks the stillness. The tigress has returned to feast. Corbett takes aim with his rifle
and fires. The shot rings out and then all is silent. With flickering lanterns, the
villagers illuminate the jungle floor. Corbett stands over the dead tigress, feeling deep
regret at the circumstances that brought about the death of this beautiful creature.
BIOGRAPHY
Edward James Corbett: The
"Tiger Wallah"
Born on July 25, 1875 in the
small village of Kaladhungi, in the Nainital valley of the Himalayas, Corbett was the
third generation of Britons in India. His father, a postmaster, died when Jim was six,
leaving his wife to support their children on a widow’s pension. Corbett’s
childhood was spent roaming the forests. At night, he would listen to the sounds of the
jungle, learning the calls of its inhabitants, and mastering the art of imitating them.
Corbett began hunting at a young age to help feed the family, and soon became an expert
marksman. His encyclopedic knowledge of the surrounding jungle soon became well known, and
as early as 1906, he had requests to track down man-eating tigers and leopards.
Corbett never hunted animals that
had struck under what he considered natural conditions, such as protecting their cubs or
being disturbed at a kill. He was only willing to track habitual man-killers, and
consented to come after two conditions had been granted: that all offers of a reward be
withdrawn, and that all other hunters leave the area, so as not to be injured while he
hunted.
Between 1906 and 1941, Corbett
hunted approximately ten man-eating tigers, supposed to have been responsible for the
deaths of an estimated 1,500 people. His first man-eater, the Champawat tiger, shot in
1907, was responsible for 436 documented deaths. Despite his growing fame, however,
Corbett was firm about his hunting principles.
In 1921, Corbett quit his job at
the Indian Railways and opened a clinic for the treatment of the sick. During the
1920’s, as a growing number of British and Indian hunters invaded the forests,
Corbett became concerned about the view of jungles as a source of profit rather than a
sanctuary for wildlife. He visited schools and spoke to students, in hopes of raising
awareness about their natural heritage, and often electrified them by concluding his
speech with a full-throated tiger’s roar. Corbett helped create several wildlife
preservation societies, and established India’s first wildlife sanctuary, inaugurated
in 1934, in the Kumaon Hills.
By the mid-thirties, Corbett had
turned to the challenge of capturing tigers in motion on film. Once, when he found that
the camera’s whirr was disturbing the tigers, he dammed a stream so that its gurgle
would cover up the sound of the camera. He waited every day for four months until he was
rewarded with the appearance of seven tigers, which he caught on film. This footage
remains in the British Film Institute archives, and is considered to be one of the most
valuable records of Indian wildlife.
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On the tiger trail, the Indian crew spent more than a month filming in
Bandhavgarh National Park, a 200-square-mile wildlife conservation area in central India.
And in accordance with National Wildlife Fund’s mission of conservation, the
topic of tigers and India created a perfect fit that well suited the giant screen.
Determined to present the true beauty and vigor
of India, the film captures stunning images from the medieval desert city of Jaisalmer in
western Rajasthan to the ancient holy city of Varanasi in central India, and from the
mountainous region of Kumaon in the north to the beaches of Kerala in the south, in search
of some of the most rare and pristine locations in India.
The Bengal tiger, one of the largest cats in the
world, is revered as India’s national animal. It is also worshipped for its
connection to the powerful Hindu war goddess, Durga, who is said to ride into battle on
the back of a tiger. In the early 1900’s, approximately 40,000 tigers roamed much of
the Indian subcontinent. Today, fewer than 4,000 remain. India – Kingdom of the
Tiger aims to educate viewers about the significance of these fierce cats, the land
they once claimed as their kingdom and the increasing pressure from encroaching human
populations that tigers now face in their struggle to survive in their own native habitat.
For the first time on IMAX® and
other large format screens, audiences will have an opportunity to view the mighty Bengal
tiger in a true-life adventure documentary set in India. Revealing rare glimpses of this
elusive endangered predator and the land it once reigned over, India - Kingdom of the
Tiger brings to an international audience the plight of the Bengal tiger, its struggle
for survival, and the challenge to save the land it calls home.
(India - Kingdom of the Tiger is a National
Wildlife Federation presentation of a Primesco production. National Wildlife Federation is
the largest member supported conservation group in the United States, and Primesco is an
established Canadian producer of large format films.)
the editor, September 12, 2002
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