John heads to Africa to film with tigers?

John Abraham may spend more than a month in the jungles of the US and Africa to shoot with real pythons and tigers for Mike Pandey’s docu-drama, Return of The Tiger. The filmmaker says, “John is a conservationist and protector of animals. He agreed to do the film so that we could attract more eyeballs and try to sensitise people towards the tiger. Laws alone are not enough.” 

The director reveals that the actor has dedicated 10 days every month until June to the initiative. The film will show re-enactments of close encounters that Pandey has had with tigers and pythons while making other wildlife documentaries. Recounting one of the incidents that will find itself in the film, he says, “I was waiting in a hidden track near a river all night. We had seen pugmarks and knew the tigers would come there with their cubs. Suddenly at 3 am, I saw a pair of huge eyes glaring, just one foot away. I was too stumped to react. But then the tigress rolled a few feet away, and started feeding her cubs.” Pandey admits he has to take the film to foreign shores because of constraints imposed on working with wild animals in India. “In our country, we cannot use tigers for filming purposes. There are no trained tigers here. So we will either use animation or film the wildcat sequences with John overseas.” 

With his docu-drama, Pandey hopes to show the audience the softer side of the endangered species. He says, “Tigers attack only to defend themselves, not to compete with human beings. It’s only when we understand the animal that we can respect and protect it.”