Sawt Falasteen - Indian stars push to end elephants in Bollywood

Top directors, producers and actors have backed the campaign by animal rights group PETA India, which this month highlighted how the rise of slick AI images provide even less reason to use real animals.

"Elephants shouldn't suffer for our entertainment," said A-list actor and producer John Abraham, describing why he and more than two dozen stars were supporting the campaign.

"With today's technology, we can bring elephants to life beautifully through CGI (computer-generated imagery) and mechanical artistry, without confinement or cruelty."

There are fewer than 50,000 Asian elephants in the wild, according to the World Wildlife Fund -- the majority in India, with others in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia.

There are more than 2,600 captive elephants in India, according to environment ministry estimates. They are used for tourism, entertainment, and in temples.

PETA told AFP captive elephants are "separated from their families, kept near-constantly chained and are controlled with weapons".

India's Animal Welfare Board must give permission for elephants to be used in films.

The number of real elephants being used have dropped dramatically since its 2021 order that it was "advisable" that special effects or animatronics be prioritised "to prevent unnecessary pain and suffering to animals".

- 'Living free' -

Now PETA campaigners are highlighting how AI-generated images, showcased in a social media campaign this month, provide increasingly lifelike images.

"Elephants are highly intelligent, emotional animals who require living free in lush jungle homes for their mental and physical wellbeing," it said.

"In contrast, elephants used in films, shows and advertisements face extreme loneliness and severe cruelties."

Campaigners point to the use of CGI imagery by Richie Mehta in the 2024 series "Poacher", a Malayalam-language crime drama about ivory smuggling, and to a robotic elephant with flapping ears used in a dance routine for an advertisement by clothing company Ramraj Cotton.

Other high-profile hits who used CGI for elephants include 2020 historical action movie "Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior" and the 2006 superhero film "Krrish".

That compares to times past when movies, such as 1971 hit "Haathi Mere Saathi" used multiple real elephants -- alongside tigers and lions -- in dance scenes.

Last month, the Malayalam-language film "Kattalan" -- about ivory-smuggling gangsters -- featured real elephants, producers told Indian media.

- Empathy -

PETA has long campaigned for the end of elephants in Hindu temple ceremonies, where the animals are paraded through packed crowds with flashing lights, thumping drums and ear-splitting music.

It has donated more than 25 life-size robot elephants -- made of fibreglass and rubber -- to temples across India.

The models are motorised, so that they flap their ears, move tails and even spray water from rubber trunks.

In May, PETA and Shriya Saran -- one of the stars of 2022 hit "RRR", which won the Oscar for best original song -- gifted one to a Hindu temple in Kanpur, in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.

Many followers of the elephant-headed Hindu deity Ganesh see the animals as sacred, and they have traditionally played an important role in ceremonies.

Saran said the mechanical version would "allow the temple to continue age-old traditions while allowing elephants, earthly representatives of Lord Ganesha, to thrive in their natural habitats".

Other Bollywood names, on a list of more than two dozen stars, include Richa Chadha, Farah Khan and Dia Mirza.

"Good cinema requires empathy," said actor Pooja Bhatt. "We can tell wonderful stories on screen without exploiting animals."

P.Tamimi--SF-PST