ANIMAL INSTINCTS

ANISH Mundra is no stranger tocinephiles, especially those familiar with films like Masaan (2015), Dhanak (2016), Newton (2017), and Kadvi Hawa (2017), all backed by his production house Drishyam Films and celebrated at international festivals. Away from the silver screen, Mundra, a corporate-turned-film producer has nurtured another obsession—photography—this time drawn to natural landscapes far removed from movie sets.

- ADITHI REENA AJITH

His maiden photobook, Wild Africa: Through My Lens (Rupa Publications), distills his journeys into the African wilderness into images that “tell stories beyond thousands of words”.

The hardbound book of 174 leafs brings together over 100 photographs, each with its own story, captured over ten years of travelling across East Africa’s savannas. A pride of lions hunting, cheetahs with bloodied faces clutching prey, cubs at play, a lone cheetah resting on a tree, hyenas in packs—the scenes reflect both the raw brutality and tenderness of the wild.“In capturing them, I wanted to show Africa from my side of the story,” Mundra explains. That “story,” he adds, speaks of being in the presence of nature’s self-sustaining balance, far removed from our hyper-connected lives in concrete jungles.

Capturing stories