Director Richie Mehta’s crime series ‘Poacher’ to unearth largest ivory poaching ring in Indian history

Mumbai: Emmy award-winning filmmaker Richie Mehta on Tuesday announced his new crime series titled ‘Poacher’, which is a fictional dramatisation of events based on court documents and testimonials, that transpired in the dense forests of Kerala and the concrete jungle of Delhi.

The series showcases the immense contributions made by Indian forest service officers, NGO workers from the Wildlife Trust of India, police constables, and good samaritans who risked their lives to investigate the largest ivory poaching ring in Indian history.

‘Poacher’ is the first-ever television series produced by QC Entertainment, the Oscar-winning production and finance company responsible for feature film hits such as Jordan Peele’s ‘Get Out’ and Spike Lee’s ‘BlacKkKlansman’.

It is created, written and directed by the director of ‘Delhi Crime’ Richie Mehta, and stars Nimisha Sajayan, Roshan Mathew, and Dibyendu Bhattacharya in pivotal roles.

To uphold the story’s authenticity, ‘Poacher’ has been filmed in the real-life settings in Kerala and New Delhi, and unfolds primarily in Malayalam, Hindi and English.

Talking about the same, creator Richie said: “After putting the last four years into exploring the themes and characters in this complex world of crime fighting, and the extraordinarily high stakes involved, I couldn’t be more thrilled to partner with Prime Video to take Poacher to a worldwide audience.”

“Working with the team at QC Entertainment has been a dream come true, from a creative, logistical, and emotional standpoint, as was collaborating with our actors, crew, and the real subjects on which this series is inspired by,” said the director of ‘India in a Day’.

He added: “The team at Prime Video demonstrated from the moment they saw our blood, sweat, and tears on screen not only that they understand what we’ve put into this, but that they have the excitement and commitment to take this to the world.”

“We want to bring unique and authentic stories that have the power to initiate social and cultural conversations. ‘Poacher’, which is based on an extraordinary true story, is one such ambitious endeavour to explore the meaning of justice, in a context never seen before on screen,” said Manish Menghani, director, content licensing, Prime Video India.

Manish added: “Poacher promises to engage the audiences within India as well as across the world with its fascinating, edge-of-the-seat narrative, and compel us as human beings to introspect how our actions can have an irrevocable impact on the environment. This narrative based on true events, has the power to make viewers aware, and inspire communities to take action.”

“When we saw ‘Delhi Crime’, we knew immediately Richie was a filmmaker we wanted to work with. We saw in that show his ability as a storyteller to keep us on the edge of our seats while also dealing intelligently and empathetically with sensitive issues, particularly in light of adapting true stories,” said QC Entertainment’s principals Edward H Hamm Jr, Raymond Mansfield and Sean McKittrick.

The first three episodes of the eight-episode series premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival.

‘Poacher’ is set to premiere on Prime Video from February 23.

–IANS