Where the Sarus Sings

SynopsisWHERE THE SARUS SINGS- SYNOPSIS The Sarus Crane is the world’s tallest flying bird, India’s only resident breeding crane and the official State Bird of Uttar Pradesh (UP).’Where the Sarus Sings’ is a forthcoming film that shows in an interestingly woven narrative how the Sarus Crane Conservation Project, run across 10 districts of eastern UP by Wildlife Trust of India in collaboration with Tata Trusts and the UP Forest Department, has sought to involve local communities in monitoring and protecting this iconic bird and the wetlands that sustain it. The film outlines the community-driven approach to conservation while covering the voices of all stakeholders. Aesthetically shot the film not just captures the beauty of the magnificent sarus but also the lush farmlands and wetlands of eastern U.P in both the monsoons and the winter season.

In 2013, I won television’s most coveted and prestigious award – The Ramnath Goenka Award for Excellence in Environmental Reporting for a half-hour programme I did on endangered elephants. This was a part of an environment and wildlife series, ‘India Endangered,’ which I conceptualized, scripted, and directed. The series explored India’s threatened eco-systems from coastlines to wildlife. Currently, I am running my own production house making documentaries, T.V programs and corporate films. Some of the wildlife and environment documentaries I have made apart from 'Where the Sarus Sings’ are -‘Return of Ranjitsinhs Deer’on the pioneering translocation of eastern Swamp Deer from Kaziranga to Manas National Park to save the last remaining herd of these deer in India, ‘Guardians of the Wild’ on the Forests Guards of India and the many battles they face on a daily basis, and recently for Public Service Broadcasting Trust (PSBT) ‘The Greens of Garo’ on villages in Garo Hills, Meghalaya, who have put aside community land as Village Reserve Forests (VRFs) to conserve their natural heritage.