On Air
My Wild Adventures
Having delivered many successful shows to the biggest networks in the world, Upma Bhatnagar decides to go for a free-wheeling ride, bringing some unbelievable wildlife stories to screen the way they exist. Not restrained by the demands of the commercial television, she goes for some hair-raising adventures in the company of a whole range of wild animals including tigers, rhinos, elephants, lions, bears, crocodiles and some deadly snakes and pythons.
A continuing series straight for YouTube
Stories from the Wild
A tiger mom battling the odds to keep her family together; a struggling lion king locked in a battle to protect its vast kingdom and 13 queens; an aging elephant matriarch leading her herd to safety in the face of heavy floods; and troops of mischievous monkeys launching determined efforts to make the city their home — four incredible tales, and one series.
4×60’ for BBC Earth
The Story of India
The challenge was to capture the journey of the world’s only surviving ancient civilisation in three episodes. We were looking at the unbroken history and journey of 5,000 years! It took us four years’ research, filming across 60 locations, and the creative resolve to deliver the story of India like it had never been done before.
3×60’ for Group M
Counting Tigers
India is among a few countries that regularly count their tigers. It is where world’s 70 per cent wild tigers live. How to do you count earth’s most accomplished and elusive predator in a huge country like India? We wanted to bring this spectacle to the audience across the world. We travelled more than 50,000 kilometres on foot, boats and jeeps, and filmed in 10 national parks to put together a film that was narrated by Joanna Lumley, and was seen in every part of the world.
60’ for ITV and National Geographic, Disney Plus
Snake Squad
To most people around the world, snake amounts to freezing fear. We, however, met many young women and men – most of them highly trained professionals like engineers, bankers and doctors – who committed their lives to fighting a battle of life and death for snakes. Without any gimmick and artificial drama, we put together stories of these snake fighters saving humans from snakes and snakes from humans.
10×30’ for BBC Earth and Discovery
The Lion Kingdom
Not many people in the world are aware of a small colony of wild lions that lives far away from Africa on the tip of the Arabian Sea in western India. We were given rare access during the heavy monsoons to film these lions as they were fighting a grim battle with the deadly canine distemper virus. Many succumbed, and there were fears of widespread annihilation of this rare species. Filming lions in continuous downpour was a massive logistic and technological challenge.
10×30’ for Discovery
Decoding the Man-eaters of Sundarbans
Upma Bhatnagar spent more than six months on rickety boats in one of the most inhospitable mangroves in the world to decode the legend of the only truly wild tiger on earth. It is a tiger that brooks no trespassing in its kingdom.
60’ for Discovery and worldwide distribution
Tales from the Rhino Land
It is a land with the highest density of tigers in the world, but is ruled by herbivores; rhinos, elephants and water buffalos. Kaziranga National Park is a paradise on earth but not when the mighty Brahmaputra river inundates it. Animals flee and those that cannot, perish in the flood waters. While filming this paradise during the times of floods, there were occasions when Upma Bhatnagar got stuck, or was charged by an angry rhino or a group of wild elephants, or found herself stranded in the crossfire between rangers and poachers.
6×30’ for Discovery and worldwide distribution
Elephant Whisperer and Maya Memsahib
An incredible tale of a forester who grew up with elephants, and enjoys a special connect with them. Running parallel was the story Maya, the wise matriarch who had to guide her herd to a safe haven as the flood waters swept through her home ground.
60’ for Worldwide Distribution
How the Rhino Got a Temper
Why the rhino is considered to be a bad boy, an animal ready to charge? An interesting film on the one-horned rhinoceros and their remarkable journey from the brink.
60’ for Worldwide Distribution
The Lion Queens
When we first heard it, we knew it was the story we would tell, not matter what. The story of some truly remarkable tribal women who were guarding the last of the Asiatic lions. Networks heard the pitch, liked it, but sadly, did not back it. We had the passion and resolve, but not the resources. With primitive cameras, and straight-from-heart style, we filmed the story that eventually became a cult show. Discovery ran it for 8 non-stop years and BBC Studios sold it in every part of the world. Newspapers, magazines and television channels of the world followed it up in glowing terms.