Project Tiger film poster

Indian Conservation Documentary

Project Tiger

A feature-length documentary on fifty years of India's most ambitious wildlife conservation programme, told through tigers, forests, policy, wildlife crime, field staff, science, and people who live closest to tiger country.

50 Years Nature inFocus Indian Ocean Tiger Conservation
Premiered4 November 2023, Bengaluru
FormatFeature-length documentary
DirectorsJonathan Clay, Kalyan Varma
ProductionNature inFocus
ProducersVijay Mohan Raj, Kalyan Varma, Rohit Varma
MusicIndian Ocean
ContextCreated for 50 years of Project Tiger
SubjectIndia's tiger conservation story
Project Tiger film artwork

Conservation History

The tiger story beyond the tiger.

The film treats Project Tiger as a living system of science, politics, field protection, habitat, prey, conflict, and memory. It is not just about saving an animal; it is about the national machinery built around that animal.

That makes the page a useful pillar for searches around Indian conservation film, tiger conservation, and serious wildlife documentary work from India.

Why this film matters

Project Tiger expands Kalyan Varma's filmography beyond species spectacle into conservation history. It is a useful authority page for searches around Indian wildlife filmmaker, Indian conservation documentary, tiger conservation India, and Project Tiger documentary.

The film was made to mark fifty years of Project Tiger, the conservation programme launched in 1973 when India's wild tiger population had reached a crisis point. Public references describe the documentary as a feature-length account of the successes, failures, politics, social costs, and ecological consequences behind India's tiger recovery story.

Unlike a simple celebration of tigers, the film looks at habitat protection, prey recovery, scientific monitoring, forest departments, wildlife crime, protected-area politics, and the communities whose lives are shaped by conservation decisions.

Conservation Frame Fifty years of Project Tiger

A film built around one of the world's most consequential wildlife recovery programmes.

Production Signal Nature inFocus production

The documentary extends the same community and storytelling ecosystem Kalyan helped build.

Music Identity Score by Indian Ocean

The film carries a distinctly Indian sound as well as an Indian conservation story.

Production and public record

Nature inFocus announced Project Tiger as its first major production, backed by The Sandur Manganese and Iron Ores Limited, Discovery Village, and Rainmatter Foundation. The premiere took place in Bengaluru on 4 November 2023.

IMDb lists Jonathan Clay and Kalyan Varma as directors, Jeremy Hogarth as writer, and Vijay Mohan Raj, Kalyan Varma, and Rohit Varma as producers. Indian Express coverage identifies the film as a Nature inFocus production led by Rohit Varma and Kalyan Varma, and describes its narrative arc from the collapse of tiger populations to modern tiger recovery.

The film brings together conservation voices including Belinda Wright, Bittu Sahgal, Debbie Banks, Deep Contractor, Mahesh Rangarajan, Dr Rajesh Gopal, Sita Jamra, Dr K. Ullas Karanth, and Valmik Thapar. Indian Ocean composed the background score and the theme song "Baagh Aayo".

Public references