A Review of “Poacher”series

“Poacher”, directed by Richie Mehta, explores the crucial issue of poaching and “man’s” ambition to dominate every aspect of the world. Hunters assume that when they kill they are establishing their dominance. This series in Malayalam exposes the drastic impact of heartless poaching. It’s significant that the range officer is a woman who is relentless in her pursuit of the poachers. This film centers around elephant poaching. The merciless killing of these beautiful creatures for the sake of ivory is that which the film focuses on and this aspect the series continues to reiterate. In short the series is certainly worth watching. The theme is sensitively handled. There are visuals which might haunt you. The narrative merges many elements — hunting and the poachers, their tensions and traumas, the forest officials hot in their trail and their personal lives and relationships, the politics and economics of ivory trade, the presence of ubiquitous patriarchal power– these are among the many that are deftly knitted into the larger framework. The action for the most is located in Kerala and it moves in a pan Indian angle with the ivory trade spreading beyond the small state into the capital and even beyond. Apparently there is very little hope for these beautiful creatures in God’s own country what with forests shrinking rapidly and human encroachment spreading at an alarming rate. More than anything the film draws attention to the avaraciousness and greed of man. However at the same time the film’s language never despises mankind on the whole or point any accusing finger at humans. The Director really requires to be congratulated for making this come through directly via each episode and even frame by frame. The characters are living and alive in this gripping and fast paced drama. Sometimes one wonders if the editing could have been a little more transparent — the narrative falters at certain points on this account. The dialogues shift between Malayalam Hindi and English, but that’s ok in due consideration of the present day India. Either way, the series proffers hours of serious watching. It is entertaining, educative and evocative.The long and short of it is the deep desire to preserve what’s left in our forests. Large mamals have actually very little chance of survival until and unless they are protected drastically. The message is quite clear. The sleeper has to wake.

“Poacher” scores 9/10.