By Bhuvan Lall
In the misty heart of central India, dawn breaks with a sea-green glow on the eastern horizon. The sun peeks through a veil of dust and fog, revealing an amber-furred silhouette etched with black flames: a tiger, the apex predator of the wild. Alert and prowling, its piercing eyes scan the forest, ears flicking at every rustle, tail swaying to sharpen its senses. This majestic beast, with a body honed by nature for conquest, embodies the raw splendor of India's natural legacy, one of the planet's most breathtaking creations.
Only a short stretch away, in the thick vegetation that obscures everything, a camera lens records the most formidable carnivore in its natural habitat to eternity. Behind the camera stands a towering six-foot-four handsome figure, nearly invisible amid the foliage: Mike Pandey, India’s most incredible wildlife and environmental filmmaker. For over five decades, the trailblazer has championed the planet's salvation.
Born in Kenya to Indian immigrants from Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, Mike grew up in Machakos, steps from a national park where giraffes grazed alongside elephants, and leopards and lions serenaded the night. His parents nurtured a profound respect for the wild, and a Kodak Brownie camera, gifted by an uncle on his birthday, ignited a passion for filmmaking. With an exceptional eye for wildlife and an extraordinary ability to observe, young Mike immersed himself in the jungle, memorizing the rhythms of its inhabitants. A pivotal moment came during a sea voyage from Kenya to India aboard the SS Amra. Peering over the rail, the nine-year-old Mike and his younger brother Ishwar spotted a whale shark shimmering in the sunlight near India's coast. Neither the boy nor the endangered giant could foresee how this glimpse would shape their intertwined destinies.
Later abandoning an aeronautical engineering degree in Bristol, Mike dove headfirst into cinema. Trained in visual effects cinematography in England and Hollywood, he apprenticed under icons such as Charlton Heston and Oscar-winning Yakima Canutt, of Ben-Hur fame. Yet, India's untamed heritage called him home. Drawn by his wife and soulmate, Ranjana, he founded Riverbank Studios in Delhi in 1973, the same year Project Tiger launched. The Indian film industry soon beckoned him; he crafted war sequences and effects for Kamal Amrohi’s opulent Razia Sultan, and his cinematography dazzled in several of Dharmendra's action epics, cementing a lifelong bond with the star. But the call of the wild proved irresistible. Sometimes called India’s Bear Grylls, Mike traversed jungles, mountains, deserts, rivers, seashores, and sanctuaries, a movie camera in hand, awakening to nature’s intricate tapestry and realizing it must be respected.
Armed with cutting-edge gear, Mike chronicled India's biodiversity, where fauna, flora, waters, and stone hold spiritual significance. In 1993, braving Surguja's perilous forests and risking his life, he unveiled The Last Migration, exposing the toll of deforestation on the human-elephant relationship. The film thrust him into the global spotlight, earning him the famed Wildscreen Panda Award—the Green Oscar. He was the first Asian to win the award. His alchemy of storytelling and activism soon worked wonders. Next, he documented the mindless slaughter and devastating illegal trade in whale sharks off the coast of Gujarat. Shores of Silence (2003) laid bare the brutal trade in whale sharks. The film was a game-changer, and he won the Green Oscar for the second time. Just three months post-release, it spurred a landmark ban, listing the species under Schedule I of India's Wildlife (Protection) Act, the first for a marine creature, and securing its CITES protection against international threats. In 2004, Vanishing Giants mourned the ravages of elephant poaching, clinching the pioneer in using film for environmental advocacy an unprecedented third Green Oscar.
Over 50 years, Mike’s oeuvre spans 600 films, series, and shorts, garnished with 300+ global accolades and awards. An awe-inspiring figure in wildlife and environmental conservation in India, he is the voice of the voiceless, igniting awareness. His transformative storytelling and films have shifted policy and reshaped international laws. Time magazine hailed him a “Hero and leading visionary of the environment” in 2009; France's Golden Giraffe crowned him its top conservationist. Fascinated by Mike’s films, the legendary Jane Goodall arrived one day at his doorstep in New Delhi for a conversation with the filmmaker. India’s most decorated documentary filmmaker humbly muses, “The only real reward I seek for the work I do is to see wildlife and wild habitats a little more secure.”
Mike Pandey with renowned primatologist Jane Goodall, who passed away earlier this month. (Photos courtesy: Bhuvan Lall & Mike Pandey/Facebook)
In September 2024, the Jackson Wild Legacy Award elevated him alongside Jane Goodall and David Attenborough, among the pinnacles of wildlife filmmaking. At the AFI Silver Theatre gala in Silver Spring, Maryland, Executive Director Geoff Daniels proclaimed: “Mike Pandey’s incredible passion for wildlife conservation and environmental protection has left an indelible mark not just in India, but all across the globe. His films have driven critical legislative changes and inspired millions, setting a benchmark for how storytelling can catalyze real-world impact. It has been a true honor to witness his tireless efforts and celebrate his remarkable legacy.”
Fluent in Swahili, Bhojpuri, Punjabi, Gujarati, Hindi, and English, this unassuming crusader refuses repose. For him, it is a crusade to save every life form on earth and our planet’s fragile ecosystems, frame by frame. Donning his signature green jungle hat and multipurpose shooting jacket, Mike is now on the road once again with son Gautam and daughter-in-law Doel. Their sights: a four-part odyssey, Virasat (working title), honoring and celebrating India's ancient heritage, plus a tiger-saving epic.
The inspirational life and films of Mike Pandey continue to be living proof that one soul, armed with vision and valor, can reweave the frayed threads of our world.
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(Bhuvan Lall is the biographer of Subhas Bose, Har Dayal, and Sardar Patel. He has also published India on the World Stage and Namaste Cannes. He can be reached at [email protected])
