Prime Video on Sunday hosted a special screening of its much-awaited crime series Poacher in London.
Written, created, and directed by Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Richie Mehta and produced by QC Entertainment, Poacher features an accomplished ensemble cast including Nimisha Sajayan, Roshan Mathew, and Dibyendu Bhattacharya.
The series is a riveting fictionalized dramatization of real-life events based on a group of Indian Forest Service officers, NGO workers, police constables, and good Samaritans who risked their lives trying to track down and bring to justice the biggest elephant ivory poaching ring in the history of India.
At the special screening of the upcoming Amazon Original in London were Richie Mehta, Manish Menghani, director, content licensing at Prime Video India, Executive Producer, Alia Bhatt, and QC Entertainment’s principals Raymond Mansfield and Sean McKittrick.
Celebrities including Freida Pinto, Gurinder Chadha, Meera Syal, Anu Menon, Soni Razdan, and Shaheen Bhatt along with esteemed filmmakers, members from wildlife protection organizations and media attended the special preview, followed by a tete-e-tete with the Poacher team, along with Lionel Hachemin, Program Manager – Wildlife Crime, IFAW UK.
Richie Mehta, writer, director, and creator shared, “While working on a project in 2015, I received a video of the largest raid on ivory poaching in the history of India from the folks at Wildlife Trust of India, which completely shook me and I called them back to understand it. And just then I knew this subject needed the right context to fairly and accurately depict the gravity of wildlife poaching. I spent the next few years researching and writing the story in a way that not only does justice to the altruistic efforts of the wildlife crime fighters but also spreads awareness through an engaging and entertaining narrative.”
Executive Producer of Poacher, Alia Bhatt shared, “I met Richie nearly two years ago and we happened to speak about Poacher. Watching the series as an audience, me and my sister Shaheen, who is also my partner at Eternal Sunshine Productions, were so moved that we instantly knew we had to be a part of it in a meaningful way. What we watch and consume has the power to slowly seep into the mindsets and DNAs of our audience, especially young minds who aspire to become a force for good. Entertainment has the power to influence minds and I believe I could use my voice to spread awareness about such a crucial message.”
The series will premiere on Prime Video on February 23. It will stream in English, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Hindi.
