Airline passengers and captain cheer for ‘Elephant Whisperers’ Bomman and Bellie as they return to Ooty 

Indian documentary film The Elephant Whisperers made history as it won the Oscar for Best Documentary Short at the recently held Academy Awards. The film narrated the story of two orphaned elephant calves cared for by mahouts Bomman and Bellie in Tamil Nadu's Mudumalai Tiger Reserve. On Thursday, the couple travelled to Mumbai for media interaction. They also posed with the Oscar at the event.

Also read: Tourists flock to Theppakadu after 'The Elephant Whisperers' wins Oscar

As they returned back to Ooty, they were surprised by the captain and the passengers on the flight who gave them a warm welcome by cheering for the couple. A video of the same was shared on Twitter on Friday, by IAS Supriya Sahu who is the Additional Chief Secretary of Environment Climate Change and Forests in the government of Tamil Nadu.

In the clip, the captain can be seen standing in front of the plane and saying, “Some of you might not know on the flight that the award for best documentary at the Oscars was given to The Elephant Whisperers. We have the main team of that documentary on board with us. A huge round of applause!”

He added that the airline was fortunate to have them on board and asked the couple to stand. They later stood near the front of the aircraft with their hands folded as other passengers pulled out their phones to take pictures.

Supriya captioned the post, “Flying to Ooty with the stars of ‘the elephant whisperers’ on board. Shoutout to @indigo airlines for the special mention!” 

Also read: 'The Elephant Whisperers' team christens Oscars award, calls it 'Goldie Monga Kapoor'

At the Theppakkadu Elephant Camp in Tamil Nadu, Bomman and Bellie nursed and took care of newborn orphaned elephant calves named Raghu and Ammu. The documentary demonstrates their unique connection to the baby elephants. The couple also told media sources that they are now caring for a new calf named Dharmam who also lost his mother.