India: Nature's Wonderland

Gr 7 Up—Using three narrators with family connections to India—Liz Bonnin, a young wildlife expert; Freida Pinto, star of Slumdog Millionaire; and mountaineer Jon Gupta—this two-part series explores the wide diversity of animals throughout India, from the Gir Forest to the Himalayas. Asiatic lions, Asian elephants, the singing Hoolock gibbons, odd frogs, and the great pied hornbills are among the creatures shown in their natural settings. There is an emphasis on positive actions by local populations aiding the survival of endangered species, often threatened because of reduced wilderness areas. Some of the close-up footage is exciting and dramatic. Accompanied by a relentless sitar and drum sound track, the narrators are often breathless in their admiration of what they are witnessing. However, the script sometimes falls flat and seems to follow the lead of many nature programs while offering only some new information. Here, it is repeatedly mentioned that what viewers are observing is amazing because it is so rarely seen (for instance, the gibbons with newborns). The saving grace, though, is the photography.