Indian animator Triparna Maiti’s feature project “ Mangal – The Holy Beast” has been selected for the Busan Asian Project Market . The film project spotlights the plight of captive elephants through animation . It follows the life of Mangal, an elephant calf captured from the wild and forced into circus life, logging work, and eventually becoming a temple elephant.
Through Mangal’s journey, the film explores themes of captivity, animal rights and the psyche of confined elephants. Maiti, whose animated short “Neer” (Water) played at festivals including Anifilm and Monstra, chose this subject after encountering captive elephants in Kerala, southern India. The filmmaker experienced discomfort at the irony of how such powerful animals could be confined to human conditioning.
Maiti also attended the annual Thrissur Pooram festival where elephants are front and center. “I was surprised to see how skilfully the elephants stood still and straight for hours throughout the celebration and noticed the heavy chains around their limbs restricting them from moving freely. Somehow it reminded me of an Indian wedding where the bride, covered in heavy gold jewels from head to toe, gets displayed much similar to these elephants.
” Maiti said. “I believe Indian women like myself can relate to this story, as Indian society has always restricted our freedom and questioned our worth at every age of life. From childhood we are trained to follow societal beliefs in order to exist.
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