Indian stars push to end elephants in Bollywood

Bollywood stars are campaigning to end the use of elephants in Indian films, saying that life-size robot replicas and AI-generated images do the job without cruelty. Top directors, producers and actors have backed the campaign by animal rights group PETA India, which this month highlighted how the rise of slick AI images provides even less reason to use real animals.
'Elephants shouldn't suffer for our entertainment', said A-list actor and producer John Abraham, describing why he and more than two dozen stars were supporting the campaign. 'With today's technology, we can bring elephants to life beautifully through CGI (computer-generated imagery) and mechanical artistry, without confinement or cruelty'.
There are fewer than 50,000 Asian elephants in the wild, according to the World Wildlife Fund, the majority in India, with others in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia. There are more than 2,600 captive elephants in India, according to environment ministry estimates. They are used for tourism, entertainment and in temples.
PETA said that captive elephants are 'separated from their families, kept near-constantly chained and are controlled with weapons'.
India's Animal Welfare Board must give permission for elephants to be used in films. The numbers of real elephants being used have dropped dramatically since its 2021 order that it was 'advisable' that special effects or animatronics be prioritised 'to prevent unnecessary pain and suffering to animals'.
Now PETA campaigners are highlighting how AI-generated images, showcased in a social media campaign this month, provide increasingly lifelike images. 'Elephants are highly intelligent, emotional animals who require living free in lush jungle homes for their mental and physical wellbeing', it said. 'In contrast, elephants used in films, shows and advertisements face extreme loneliness and severe cruelties'.
Campaigners point to CGI imagery by Richie Mehta in the 2024 series 'Poacher', a Malayalam-language crime drama about ivory smuggling and a robotic elephant with flapping ears used in a dance routine for an advertisement by clothing company Ramraj Cotton.
Other high-profile hits that used CGI for elephants include 2020 historical action movie 'Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior' and the 2006 superhero film 'Krrish'. That compares to times past when movies, such as 1971 hit 'Haathi Mere Saathi' used multiple real elephants — alongside tigers and lions — in dance scenes. Last month, the Malayalam-language film 'Kattalan' — about ivory-smuggling gangsters — featured real elephants, producers said.
PETA has long campaigned for the end of elephants in Hindu temple ceremonies. It has donated more than 25 life-size robot elephants — made of fibreglass and rubber — to temples across India. The models are motorised, so that they flap their ears, move tails and even spray water from rubber trunks. — AFP