‘Ponniyin Selvan’ is a Tamil historical drama created by filmmaker Mani Ratnam. According to PETA, the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) has demanded an inquiry into the death of a horse while on the sets during the filming. According to a police official in Hyderabad on Thursday, a PETA volunteer filed a complaint stating that a horse died during the shooting of the movie in Hyderabad on August 11 on a private plot near a studio.
According to the complaint, a case was filed against the management of production company ‘Madras Talkies’ and the owner of the horse under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PCA) Act and IPC. A veterinarian conducted a postmortem at Abdullapurmet police station, and the report is still pending.
In response to a complaint from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India based on whistle-blower reports regarding the incident, the AWBI wrote to the Hyderabad District Collector and the Telangana State Animal Welfare Board to conduct an investigation. The same ground was used to bury the carcass.
A whistle-blower reported that several horses were continuously used for hours on the film set, causing the animals to become dehydrated and tired. In the age of computer-generated imagery (CGI), production companies have no excuse for forcing horses to play war until one dies, said PETA India Chief Advocacy Officer Khushboo Gupta.
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Filmmakers who are committed to compassionately portraying animals would never make the mistake of forcing them to act on chaotic movie sets. In a press release, PETA India urged director Mani Ratnam to make his films cruelty-free by introducing advanced CGI and other visual-effects techniques.
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