NEW DELHI, Jan 6 — Two time Green Oscar winner and wildlife filmmaker Mike Pandey has now set his eyes on the rich biodiversity of the north-east and is looking forward to produce a series of documentaries on the region, reports PTI. He plans to prepare documentaries on themes ranging from wildlife to social issues concerning the area in an effort to disseminate information about the region to the world and seek solutions to the problems threatening its rich biodiversity.
“My dream to venture into the Northeast is more than a decade old and more so now, as I realise that the region is yet to integrate into the mainstream despite efforts on several fronts,” Pandey said. The series of documentaries, which will try to cover major part of the seven sister states, is, however, likely to focus a lot on Assam, he said. The filmmaker points out that it would be a challenge to make the series which was “different from the rest” and also keeps a vast audience cutting across country-lines interested.
Pandey, a Canadian-born Indian, became the first and only Asian to win the Green Oscar in 1994 for his film The Last Migration focusing on the lives of elephants in Sarguja in Madhya Pradesh. The filmmaker added one more Green Oscar to his kitty two years ago, when he established the presence of whale sharks on the Indian Coast through his documentary film, Shores of Silence - Whale Sharks in India.
The film made a difference as an international body on animals, after watching the film, had decided to ban the hunting of whale shark. A student of the London Film School, where he completed his Diploma in Film Direction and Cinematography, Pandey retunred to his native country three decades ago and was overwhelmed by the natural beauty of and biodiversity of the region. He boasts of a plethora of awards and a wide collection of documentary films on issues ranging from wild life and environment to social issues like AIDS awareness, training for handicapped children and family planning.
Pandey, who became a household name through his programme ‘Earth Matter’, telecast on Doordarshan has also been associated with some international production and even with the Indian bollywood in the production of films like Betaab, Razia Sultan and others.