X

Join or Sign In

Sign in to customize your TV listings

Continue with Facebook Continue with email

By joining TV Guide, you agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy.

Hathi

5000 years ago, in India, men started to capture and tame elephants for war, parades and worship. Still today, the young Makbul grows up in daily contact with the wild and domesticated elephants that live in the forest around his native village in southern India. Over the objections of his mother, Makbul follows in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, going deep into the forest to learn the age-old profession of the mahout, or elephant handler in the government's employ. When an elephant calf named Vikrama is born, the animal is placed under Makbul's care. The boy raises and trains the elephant, but when his father dies, Makbul now head of the family but too young to be hired by the forest department, must seek work in the neighboring villages, away from the elephants. The bond between Makbul and the life of his forebears is too strong, and as he passes into adulthood, his destiny of becoming a mahout is fulfilled. But times have changed, the forest operations have come to an end and no longer require the elephants and their handlers. Vikrama is sold and Makbul is charged with delivering the elephant to its buyer. They head off across India, further and further away from the world of the forests, up to an animal fair in the north. There, Makbul understands that the buyer is a corrupt dealer who has obtained the elephant at Government rate only to sell it at a higher price to someone else. Vikrama is placed in the care of a rougher mahout and kills him. Calamity ensues, and only Makbul can save Vikrama from further misfortune. And so they begin the long journey into an uncertain future, a man and an elephant bound together by centuries of tradition but with less and less of a place in this world to call their own.

Loading. Please wait...

Content not available in your region? ExpressVPN can help you stay connected wherever you are. Get 4 extra months FREE with TV Guide's exclusive offer.

Cast & Crew See All

Nanny Ama
Grandmother
Venkatesh Daggubati
Truck driver
Begum Jamila
Mother

Awards

  • 1999 - Special Prize in Memoriam R.W. Fassbinder - Honorable Mention - - winner
  • 1999 - Costa Azul Award - - winner
  • 1998 - Grand Prix des Amériques - - nominated
  • 1999 - Youth Jury Award - Special Mention - Meeting Point Section - winner

You May Also Like See All

Casablanca
The Godfather
Rear Window
The Conformist

Popular Movies See all movies

The Ten Commandments

3 hr 40 mins
The Egyptian Prince, Moses, learns of his true heritage as a Hebrew and his divine mission as the deliverer of his people.
1956 Action & Adventure, Drama, Family, Documentary

The Passion of the Christ

2 hr 7 mins
A depiction of the last twelve hours in the life of Jesus of Nazareth, on the day of his crucifixion in Jerusalem. The story opens in the Garden of Olives where Jesus has gone to pray after the Last Supper. Betrayed by Judas Iscariot, the controversial Jesus - who has performed 'miracles' and has publicly announced that he is 'the Son of God' - is arrested and taken back within the city walls of Jerusalem. There, the leaders of the Pharisees confront him with accusations of blasphemy; subsequently, his trial results with the leaders condemning him to his death. Jesus is brought before Pontius Pilate, the prefect of the Roman province of Judaea, for his sentencing. Pilate listens to the accusations leveled at Jesus by the Pharisees. Realizing that his own decision will cause him to become embroiled in a political conflict, Pilate defers to King Herod in deciding the matter of how to persecute Jesus. However, Herod returns Jesus to Pilate who, in turn, gives the crowd a choice between which prisoner they would rather to see set free - Jesus, or Barabbas. The crowd chooses to have Barabbas set free. Thus, Jesus is handed over to the Roman soldiers and is brutally flagellated. Bloody and unrecognizable, he is brought back before Pilate who, once again, presents him to the thirsty crowd - assuming they will see that Jesus has been punished enough. The crowd, however, is not satisfied. Thus, Pilate washes his hands of the entire dilemma, ordering his men to do as the crowd wishes. Whipped and weakened, Jesus is presented with the cross and is ordered to carry it through the streets of Jerusalem, all the way up to Golgotha. There, more corporal cruelty takes place as Jesus is nailed to the cross-suffering, he hangs there, left to die. Initially, in his dazed suffering, Jesus is alarmed that he has been abandoned by God his father. He then beseeches God. At the moment of his death, nature itself over-turns.

Crucify

1 hr 19 mins
A neon noir thriller that descends into a maze of nightmares as two teens trapped in a haunted crime scene are forced to confront their demons.
2020 Fantasy, Horror, Suspense, Drama

Tamil Rockers

1 hr 38 mins
Four Major characters running for the Money facing more challenges by forgetting the same fact !!.
2021 Action & Adventure, Drama

Bittu

0 hr 17 mins
A close friendship between two girls is eclipsed by an accidental poisoning at school.
2020 Other, Drama

The Housemaid

2 hr 11 mins
Millie arrives at a wealthy household seeking stability after instability. The Catalyst appears in the uneasy dynamic between Nina and Andrew, where generosity carries control beneath it. Millie responds by reading the room and using charm as survival instinct. As the Collision builds, attention, jealousy, and shifting alliances turn the home into a tense psychological arena. A Moral Pivot arrives when Millie must choose whether to remain pliant or assert herself within a system that rewards manipulation, and the cost of either path presses directly on her sense of identity.
65   Metascore
2025 Drama, Suspense