New Delhi, Filmmaker duo Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti believe in backing stories that they would want to watch and present something new to both global viewers and Indians, whether it is “Angry Young Men”, “In Transit” or “Turtle Walker”.
Directed by Taira Malaney, “Turtle Walker” revolves around Satish Bhaskar, an Indian biologist who devoted his life to preserving sea turtles.
“Angry Young Men” documented the achievements of Akhtar’s father Javed Akhtar and Salim Khan as screenwriters, while “In Transit” has been shortlisted for the GLAAD awards. Slated to take place in March, the awards recognise stories focused on LGBTQ lives.
“These are stories that move us and we want to put them out. We want to put out stories from India that are real and rooted – stories even people in India don’t know. It’s for the globe, but it’s also for the country, so people can see how diverse we are and what incredible lives are being lived amongst us,” Akhtar told PTI in an interview.
Kagti, who was also on the video call with Malaney and Akhtar, said through their production banner Tiger Baby, their instinct has always been to tell stories that they like as an audience.
“We watch fiction and non-fiction. There are many documentaries that I love and she loves. Because I like something, I see promise in it and believe someone else will enjoy it too. It’s coming from there more than a very planned diversification. But with ‘Angry Young Men’, ‘In Transit’, and this , hopefully, we are able to keep it up and sustain that diversification,” the “Superboys of Malegaon” director said.
Malaney, who spent years developing the documentary, said she was struck by Bhaskar’s singular passion to care for sea turtles.
“It’s inspiring to see that one person can have such a huge impact. We can feel overwhelmed by the state of the environment in India. It feels like a problem larger than something we can solve. But when you see someone achieve so much by taking one step at a time, every day, with consistent effort, it gives you hope,” she said.
The filmmaker first came across Bhasker’s story eight years ago while working with a marine conservation organisation where she focused on introducing children to the ocean.
“India has this huge, extensive coastline, but I noticed that our relationship is one of fear rather than one where we feel a sense of comfort and ease, and then take it to the next level of actually having a connection to it. I came across this story, written by a very famous herpetologist Romulus Whittaker, and it was written so beautifully.
“There were these really amazing legends and stories about Satish Bhaskar, the protagonist, that were passed on in the sea turtle community. I was immediately captivated.. I knew it had those ingredients for a really good story to connect youth to the ocean,” Malaney added.
The next challenge for the director was to actually find the main character of her story and to her surprise, she realised that Bhaskar lived just an hour away from her home in Goa. He passed away in 2023.
“I started going and visiting him and spending time with him and his wife Brenda. One thing led to another and we started making a film. It first was supposed to be a short documentary, but we attended a lot of pitching forums. It got a lot of awards and support and mentorship, and everyone said this needs to be a feature film. That’s how we arrived here eight years later.”
Akhtar said their producer Angad Dev Singh introduced them to Malaney and her film when it was not yet finished.
“We saw a lot of their footage and the story they had pieced together at that point, and we were blown away because we had never heard of Satish Bhaskar and that something like this existed. You could sense the love in what she had shot.
“In this country we have such a diverse landscape. We have mountains, deserts, the ocean, plains, forests – everything. We need to inculcate love and care for this because we need to take care of the land we’ve been gifted and the water we’ve been gifted. Seeing a man like Satish and what he went through to protect one species that was part of his space, part of India’s planet so to speak, was incredible to us,” Akhtar said.
Kagti was impressed by Malaney’s treatment of the story, which aligned with their vision of taking untold stories and bringing awareness within the country.
Malaney said the most challenging part was finding archival footage of Bhaskar with the sea turtles as he would often travel alone and camera was not something that he carried along.
“We tried to figure out what was the most creative way to transport people to these places and immerse them in his world. Our EP, James Reed, who had done ‘My Octopus Teacher’ had previously done a film called ‘Jago’, where he used cinematic recreations.
“, you have Bhaskar narrating the true, factual events, and then you use this tool to help people expand their imagination and transport them to these places.”
“Turtle Walker” was screened at the International Wildlife Film Festival in April 2025, the Byron Bay International Film Festival in October 2025, and as an opening film at the All Living Things Environmental Film Festival in December last year.
The film was also screened at Kala Ghoda Arts Festival in Mumbai recently.
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