A film on Ranthambore tiger queen wins National Award for Best Environment film

The World’s Most Famous Tiger that won Nallamuthu his fifth National Film Award, chronicles Machli’s rise to power, and the extraordinary legacy she left behind

Machli, the legendary tiger queen of Ranthambhore National Park of Rajasthan, who won millions of hearts across the globe, is still making news. A film, which was made on the tigress, has won

the Best Environment Film award

at the recently concluded 66th National Film Awards.

The 60-minute documentary titled The World’s Most Famous Tiger was directed by four-time National award winner filmmaker Subbiah Nallamuthu. Nallamuthu says, “It’s my fifth National award and that is definitely making me happy. This film is my way of protecting the tigers and creating awareness about tiger conservation. It was also an attempt at pulling viewers into the world of tigers. Machli died at the record age of 20 years giving birth to nine cubs at the sanctuary and creating a gene pool for 50 tigers.”

S Nallamuthu

in Ranthambore National Park

The film chronicles Machli’s journey from her prime to her death, telling the incredible stories behind her rise to power, her heartbreaking descent and the extraordinary legacy she left behind. The filmmaker spent nine years in the sanctuary to make this documentary. What made Nallamuthu document Machli’s life? He says, “Machli taught us an important lesson that protecting a single tiger can create a forest. I must confess that once you’ve spent years with tigers, you cannot look at them as mere animals. They are living breathing creatures with unique features and personality traits. I first observed it when I went to Ranthambhore in 2007 and found local guides discussing about individual tigers as if they were part of their family. Machli was the most famous one among them.”

Nallamuthu began filming Machli in 2007 when she was just 11 years old, rearing her last litter of cubs. The filmmaker says, “She was the most beloved tiger and in her own way responsible for turning the spotlight on tiger conservation. Many films have been made about her but my film focuses on her after she passed her prime, when she no longer had the strength to protect her territory and had to move from one territory to another for survival.” The most difficult and saddest part for Nallamuthu was to capture her last moments. “Being a filmmaker, this was my work, but a long association with Machli made me very emotional. I met her almost five days before she passed away. From forest officials to locals, everybody knew that she was about to die. From sunrise to sunset I was there to capture every single moment. She had become frail with no energy in her body to even walk. Everybody including me was quite emotional when we saw her taking her last breath in August 2016.”