Poacher review: Powerful wildlife crime thriller co-produced by Alia Bhatt

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At the center are anonymous government officials doing the difficult and painstaking work of protecting Kerala’s wildlife. poacherA solidly crafted eight-episode Amazon Prime Video series written and directed by Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Richie Mehta and executive produced by Alia Bhatt.

As forest rangers wage an uphill battle against elephant poachers, the men and women responsible (and sometimes controversial) for bringing criminals to justice prefer not to blow the trumpet themselves. As the stakes continue to rise, they run away from intention, as do the risks involved in stirring a hornet’s nest.

Apart from everything else that makes poacher A highly watchable show, the series provides a refreshing respite from the empty pretense and empty rhetoric by cops and spies, gangsters and terrorists and traitors and patriots that we usually see in Indian web shows (and movies) .

poacherRestrained and focused, this is a powerful, precisely portrayed wildlife crime thriller that seamlessly transitions into an urgent ecological cautionary tale. It works flawlessly like both.

It highlights the cruelty of poachers, the weakness of the magnificent teeth they hunt, and the tenacity of investigating forest officers who struggle to juggle work and family.

The series does not deny the complexities of its genre. The heroes are on a mission to bust the network of tusker poachers and illegal ivory suppliers, traders and end buyers. They will do anything to achieve their goal.

He is a rising hero. But even though they operate within the narrative structure of good guys versus bad guys, these guys, real and relatable, don’t resort to pomp and show.

The multi-location, multi-dimensional manhunt that Poacher revolves around – it spans from cities, villages and wildlife sanctuaries in Kerala to an art gallery and secret storehouse in Delhi – is tense, intense and full of mystery.

Forest officers and their colleagues conduct surprise raids, lay down hideouts, gather intelligence and analyze all available call record data, just like secret agents and crime investigators, but what comes to the fore in Poacher is just police drama. The dynamics of the plot are similar to those of a spy thriller.

poacher (Malayalam, English, Hindi and a little Bengali), by all estimates, is far more compelling than most Indian crime dramas on streamers.

It presents an impeccably set fictional account of the true events that unfolded in 2015 surrounding the investigation of the country’s largest ever elephant poaching case. It is a procedural process founded on a deep understanding of place and purpose.

A young Indian Forest Service officer, Mala Jogi (Nimisha Sajayan), is pulled out of a bird sanctuary and reassigned to an elephant poaching case, when a convicted gang member’s confession opens a can of worms. goes.

She has an urgent personal reason to jump into the mission but it has nothing to do with the relationship she just ended. Her anxious single mother remains concerned about her daughter’s personal well-being.

A more experienced officer, Neil Banerjee (Dibyendu Bhattacharya), an Indian intelligence cadre with a background in counter-terrorism operations in Kashmir, leads the anti-poaching operation while facing serious health problems, a difficult marriage, inter- Have to face departmental problems. Slowness and complexities of dealing with multiple agencies.

Alan Joseph (Roshan Mathew), a computer programmer working at a wildlife conservation NGO in Delhi, is assigned to analyze call record data of suspected poachers and associates. He also works around the clock, often at the expense of his duties as a husband and father.

In the opening moments of the series, 30-year-old forest watcher Aruku (Sooraj Pops) arrives at a forest department outpost and confesses to the murder of 18 elephants. In an accurate retelling of the way it happened in real life, the officer he complains to does not take Aruku seriously.

Subsequently, unsuccessful raids on the hideouts of suspected poachers expose the deep roots of the forest department and land forest range officer Vijay Babu (Ankit Madhav). He has been suspended. But the nature and scope of the operation is such that man keeps playing an intermittent role in it.

The professional challenges that forest officers face create complications on the home front, making the roles of key players more complex and the story around them even more layered.

Mala, Neil and Allen emerge as well-rounded individuals who grapple with emotions the audience can connect with, even if on one level they are trapped in a vast narrative cycle filled with people, places and details.

With its steady writing, strong execution and top-notch performances, Poacher draws us deeply into the world of forest officers and their areas of operation. Nimisha Sajayan, Roshan Mathew and Dibyendu Bhattacharya, leading a great ensemble cast, deliver excellent performances.

Kani Kusruti (in a brief appearance as a Thiruvananthapuram-based officer who pays the price for being steadfast in his commitment) and Suraj Pops as a forest guard who busts the illegal ivory trade are first class.

characters in poacher And the actors playing them are in perfect sync with each other, giving the series a degree of authenticity that turns a crime-and-punishment tale into an essential history of India’s largest anti-poaching operation ever. Increases to the level of.

Elephants and their habitat as well as other amazing creatures that live in the jungle are a constant presence in the series. A killed elephant, shot in the head by a poacher’s leader, slowly rots at the hunting site and ants, insects and vultures feed on its remains until the dead animal is hollowed out and crumbles into dust. Get it.

Almost all eight episodes open with the camera hovering above and around the horrific crime scene – serving as a powerful metaphor for the extent, nature and consequences of the threat that pachyderm populations in the forests of Kerala would have faced Is.

Working with his Delhi Crime technical team of cinematographer Johann Heuerlein Edt, editor Beverley Mills and composer Andrew Lockington, Mehta delivers a masterful display of blending fact and fiction in the service of a drama designed to entertain, engage and excite. We do.

poacher It is not given to excess but throbs with life. It hits hard and knows when, where and how to hit.