BENGALURU: The makers of the upcoming movie ‘Bhajarangi-2’, featuring popular Kannada actor Shivarajkumar, have courted trouble for allegedly violating forest rules while shooting. Forest Department officials said the production team was given permission for a day to shoot at the Sakrebailu elephant camp, but the crew violated rules. Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) Sanjai Mohan told The New Sunday Express that permission was given only to use the place and shoot at the site.
Elephants could be in a passing shot only, from a distance. However, reports of violations have come to light and strict action will be taken, he said. Another senior official from Shivamogga admitted, “In one of the shots, tusker Sagar is being splashed with water. The staff also reported that the actor sat on the elephant at the Jungle Lodges and Resorts camp site, alone without any cushion or protection.”
Did not have any elephant shot: Director
“The incident occurred when senior officers were away at an official meeting,” an official said.
Director of Bajarangi-2, Harsha, however, claimed that they did not have any elephant shot. “Elephants passing from the forest to the camp site were captured for computer graphics. The range forest staffers were present with our crew all through the film shooting. No elephant movements were stopped”, he said.
Kraals are small wooden enclosures used to house captured wild elephants before they are tamed and kept in elephant camps. “In this case, a tusker captured recently from Chitradurga is housed in the kraal, which is strictly out of bounds,” explained the officer.
This is not the first time that the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, and forest rules have been violated by film-makers. The most recent one was during the shooting of Gaalipata-2 in Kudremukh National Park last December. Though permission was taken for shooting outside the forest area, Forest Department officials reported several violations. Last April, shooting of the Malayalam commercial film ‘Nalpathionnu’ was stopped in Talacauvery Wildlife Sanctuary for violating rules.