Bollywood Stars Unite to End Use of Real Elephants in Films

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Mumbai: A significant number of Indian film stars have called on Bollywood to stop using real elephants in films, saying that modern technology such as CGI, animatronics, and AI-generated imagery can substitute animals without causing pain and suffering. PETA India is leading the campaign, which has received support from over two dozen actors, directors, and producers.

Actor and producer John Abraham said that elephants should not be subjected to suffering for entertainment, especially since filmmakers can now create realistic animal scenarios using computer effects. Campaigners argue that captive elephants are frequently isolated, chained, and mistreated, making their use in entertainment harder to justify.

The initiative aligns with a 2021 guideline from India's Animal Welfare Board urging filmmakers to prioritise special effects and animatronics in order to alleviate animal suffering, which led to a fall in the use of real elephants in Indian films. Robotic or computer-generated elephants have been effectively used in recent displays instead of actual animals.

Advocates for animal welfare contend that the business has the means and obligation to abandon live animal shows. Shriya Saran and Pooja Bhatt are among the campaign's supporters, who claim that filmmakers can deliver gripping stories while ensuring elephants stay in their natural habitats rather than being used for entertainment.