T24: Tiger in a man’s world

Not often do we see a feature length documentary on a tiger get a theatrical release. But here is one that makes it, thanks to the initiative of brave distributor Anil Thadani’s AA Films. The title refers to the number given to a tiger named Ustaad, who inhabited the Ranthambore Tiger Reserve.

Charmed by his majestic looks and gait, short-film-maker Warren Pereira (Lovely Coffee, Salt and Silicone, Moving Higher) decided to capture his movements and life on camera. Not an easy task, Tiger 24-The Making of a Man-Eater took about a decade to see completion. But the results are spectacular. We see Ustaad and his companion/mate Noor and their cubs at close quarters, discover that, over the years, Ustaad has eaten four men who ventured into his territory, and that he has now been shifted to a zoo, where his territory is a fraction of what it was in Ranthambore.

Born in Bombay but based in Los Angeles, California, 47-year-old Warren Pereira got his High School Degree from Appleby College in Biology, in 1994. This was followed by a B.S. in Biology at Lewis and Clark College, 1999, and his last degree was from the Art Institutes, obtained in 2009. He has made eight short films before Tiger 24, under the banner of W Films, which he set-up in 2006. Tiger 24 is his first feature length documentary. Warren Pereira is a creatively driven, award-winning, film-maker whose work has garnered the industry's top accolades, including the Cannes Gold Lion, and has been showcased at top international film festivals.

Clients under Warren Pereira's production company, W Films, include The Royal Bank of Scotland, Time Warner Cable, Hpnotiq, Unicare, Wall Street Journal, and agencies such as DDB and CAA. Additionally, Pereira founded The Tiger Fund LLC, which produces content relating to Tiger conservation, including films for the government of India.

May 22, 2022, marked seven years since Ustaad was removed from the wild. He was relocated to a zoo. Ustaad remains in the zoo to this day, in a non-display enclosure. Filming him in the wild was a privilege for Warren, who spent almost a decade on the project. There was a debate over his shifting. The fact of the matter was that settlers just outside the wall of the Tiger Reserve used to, and still do, enter the tiger’s territory, to defaecate or to collect wood for lighting fires. Ustaad attacked four such men, who paid for this transgression with their lives. After the fourth such incident, there was a lobby for branding him a man-eater and shifting him to a zoo, to prevent more such incidents, while another lobby of activists was against shifting him, claiming that a zoo would be too small for Ustaad, who was used to living and moving about in a large expanse of land, and that the deaths were caused by the victims’ own indiscretions. To his credit, Pereira has presented both points of view with fairness, quoting persons who are vehemently on opposing sides, but we can see that his heart lies with the “non-shifting” lobby. The matter went up to the Supreme Court.

Nevertheless, Ustaad was shifted to a zoo, and his place was taken by another tiger, number T29. The move raised several questions, mainly about bio-diversity. After seeing the film, environmentalist Bittu Sehgal opines that forests are our only source of drinking water and tigers are found only in forests. Wherever you find tigers, you find a source of water supply. So, forests should not be encroached upon and tigers should be allowed to stay there. It is indeed unfortunate that Ustaad had to be shifted from a place which has been described on the Rajasthan Government’s official website as, “Ranthambore Tiger Reserve is the ultimate place to witness the magical, beautiful Bengal Tiger, freely wandering in its natural habitat.” The Tiger Reserve is part of the Ranthambore National Park, Sawai Madhopur, Rajasthan, India. In a nutshell, the film describes the plight of a tiger in a man’s world.

Written, produced and directed by Warren Pereira, Tiger 24 has music by Kreng. A compelling watch for all lovers of nature and wildlife, and environmentalists, Tiger 24-The Making of a Man-Eater also has lessons to be learnt for the common man. More than anything else, the film is an ode to Ustaad, who is the hero of the film, in all its majestic and pristine glory. At 90 minutes, is a worthwhile watch.