Naresh Bedi is an Indian filmmaker, the eldest of the Bedi Brothers and a member of the second generation of three generations of Wildlife photographers and filmmakers. He is the first Asian to receive a Wildscreen Panda Award and the first Indian to receive a wildlife film nomination for the

British Academy Film Awards The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTA Film Awards is an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to film. The cere ...

. He was honoured by the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...

in 2015 with

Padma Shri Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, ...

, the fourth highest Indian civilian award.

Biography

Naresh Bedi was born in Haridwar in the present day Indian state of

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand ( , or ; , ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; the official name until 2007), is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the "Devbhumi" (literally 'Land of the Gods') due to its religious significance and ...

, to Ramesh Bedi, a wildlife photographer and author of 74 books on the subject. He started developing an interest in photography from an early age and along with his younger brother, Rajesh Bedi, pursued the interest with a

Rolleicord The Rolleicord is a medium-format twin lens reflex camera made by Franke & Heidecke (Rollei) between 1933 and 1976. It was a simpler, less expensive version of the high-end Rolleiflex TLR, aimed at amateur photographers who wanted a high-quality c ...

camera, presented by their father. His passion helped him to cover an official visit by

Jawaharlal Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...

while he was only in his teens and had his first exhibition at the age 19, sponsored by Max Mueller Bhavan, the Indian wing of

Goethe-Institut The Goethe-Institut (, GI, en, Goethe Institute) is a non-profit German cultural association operational worldwide with 159 institutes, promoting the study of the German language abroad and encouraging international cultural exchange and ...

. Bedi is a graduate from the

Film and Television Institute of India The Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) is a film institute under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Government of India and aided by the Central Government of India. It is situated on the premises of the erstwhile ...

, Pune with a gold medal for the best all round performance. One of his first ventures was the coverage of Connaught Place and the zoo in New Delhi, focusing on the feeding of animals there. The film was bought by

Doordarshan Doordarshan (abbreviated as DD; Hindi: , ) is an Indian public service broadcaster founded by the Government of India, owned by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and one of Prasar Bharati's two divisions. One of India's largest bro ...

for an amount of 1800. Later, a chance meeting with

Bert Haanstra Albert Haanstra (; 31 May 1916 – 23 October 1997) was a Dutch director of films and documentaries. His documentary ''Glass'' (1958) won the Academy Award for Documentary Short Subject in 1959. His feature film ''Fanfare'' (1958) was the mo ...

, the renowned Dutch filmmaker, at a cricket match in Kanpur, fetched him the opportunity to film a few portions of Haanstra's film, Ape and Super Ape. Naresh Bedi joined with his brother Rajesh in the 1970s and shot several projects for

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widely ...

Stern The stern is the back or aft-most part of a ship or boat, technically defined as the area built up over the sternpost, extending upwards from the counter rail to the taffrail. The stern lies opposite the bow, the foremost part of a ship. Ori ...

and

Geo Geo- is a prefix derived from the Greek word ''γη'' or ''γαια'', meaning "earth", usually in the sense of "ground or land”. GEO or Geo may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''GEO'' (magazine), a popular scientific magazine ...

before making a film, ''Cobra - The Snake God'', which was bought by

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

and

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Channe ...

. The next venture, ''Flying Prince of Wildlife'', BBC production, followed the steps of

Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

, a known wildlife enthusiast, and had the Prince making appearance and

Richard Attenborough Richard Samuel Attenborough, Baron Attenborough, (; 29 August 192324 August 2014) was an English actor, filmmaker, and entrepreneur. He was the president of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and the British Academy of Film and Televisio ...

handling the narration. A few more films, two on tiger, one each on elephants, wild dogs and snow leopards, followed before the film, ''The Ganges Gharial'' was made in 1983. The film fetched him the ''Wildscreen Panda Award'' for the best cinematography in 1984 and was also screened at the Centenary Film Festival 2013. Bedi's films have been aired by several notable television channels such as

Channel4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

Canal Plus Canal+ (Canal Plus, , meaning 'Channel Plus'; sometimes abbreviated C+ or Canal) is a French premium television channel launched in 1984. It is 100% owned by the Groupe Canal+, which in turn is owned by Vivendi. The channel broadcasts several ki ...

and the

. Their work, ''Sadhus: India's Holy Men'', was premiered on BBC. He has worked with renowned filmmaker,

Mira Nair Mira Nair (born 15 October 1957) is an Indian-American filmmaker based in New York City. Her production company, Mirabai Films, specializes in films for international audiences on Indian society, whether in the economic, social or cultural sphe ...

, on her film,

Monsoon Wedding ''Monsoon Wedding'' is a 2001 Indian comedy-drama film directed by Mira Nair and written by Sabrina Dhawan. The film stars Naseeruddin Shah, Lillete Dubey, Shefali Shah and Vasundhara Das. The story depicts romantic entanglements during a tradi ...

, as the cinematographer of the second unit. His other mainstream engagements were with

for a 50-minute promotional film shot for the biopic,

Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

and with

David Lean Sir David Lean (25 March 190816 April 1991) was an English film director, producer, screenwriter and editor. Widely considered one of the most important figures in British cinema, Lean directed the large-scale epics ''The Bridge on the River ...

for a promotional film for

A Passage to India ''A Passage to India'' is a 1924 novel by English author E. M. Forster set against the backdrop of the British Raj and the Indian independence movement in the 1920s. It was selected as one of the 100 great works of 20th century English litera ...

. His documentary, '' Cherub of the Mist'', is reported to be the first conservation film about the

red panda The red panda (''Ailurus fulgens''), also known as the lesser panda, is a small mammal native to the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China. It has dense reddish-brown fur with a black belly and legs, white-lined ears, a mostly white muzzle ...

. Bedi is reported to have filmed several rare wildlife moments such as the first recording of the reproduction of

gharial The gharial (''Gavialis gangeticus''), also known as gavial or fish-eating crocodile, is a crocodilian in the family Gavialidae and among the longest of all living crocodilians. Mature females are long, and males . Adult males have a distinct b ...

s, nursing, multiple mating and leopard hunting of tigers and breeding of

bar-headed geese The bar-headed goose (''Anser indicus'') is a goose that breeds in Central Asia in colonies of thousands near mountain lakes and winters in South Asia, as far south as peninsular India. It lays three to eight eggs at a time in a ground nest. It ...

. He has filmed Tibetan and Indian wild dogs (

dholes The dhole (''Cuon alpinus''; ) is a Canidae, canid native to Central Asia, Central, South Asia, South, East Asia, East and Southeast Asia. Other English names for the species include Asian wild dog, Asiatic wild dog, Indian wild dog, whistling ...

Himalayan lynx The Turkestan lynx (''Lynx lynx isabellinus'') is a subspecies of Eurasian lynx native to Central Asia. It is also known as Central Asian lynx, Tibetan lynx or Himalayan lynx. It is widespread from Central Asia, continental South Asia to China an ...

and

snow leopard The snow leopard (''Panthera uncia''), also known as the ounce, is a Felidae, felid in the genus ''Panthera'' native to the mountain ranges of Central Asia, Central and South Asia. It is listed as Vulnerable species, Vulnerable on the IUCN Red ...

for the first time. He is also known to have made innovative accessories like a 10 feet tripod for filming predatory animals. Criticisms have also surfaced with Bedi being accused of shooting a captive tiger for a scene showing the animal in water. Bedi is credited with six books, co-authored by his brother, Rajesh Bedi, such as ''India's Wild Wonders'', apart from several films he has produced so far. His sons, Ajay Bedi and Vijay Bedi, are filmmakers in their own rights, taking the trade to the third generation. They were nominated for the

Emmy Awards The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

in its 28th edition for Editing and have won the Wildscreen Panda Award in 2004 for their film, ''The Policing Langur''.

Filmography

* Bij de beesten af ( Ape and Super Ape) (1972) - Movie Documentary - additional cinematographer * Flying Prince of Wildlife (1975) - Documentary - cinematography * Gandhi - (1982) - Promotional film - additional cinematographer for the promotional short film for the

feature film,

. * The Ganges Garial (1983) - Documentary - cinematographer, producer * A Passage to India (1984) - Promotional film - cinematographer for the

film,

. * The Healing Arts (1986) - TV Series documentary - (1 episode: Alamelu's Illness - cinematographer * Questar Animals in the Wild: Elephant, Lord of the Jungle (1987) - Documentary - director * Saving The Tiger (1987) - Documentary - director * Man - Eating Tiger (1987) - Documentary - director * Whistling Hunter (1989) - Documentary - director * Cobra - The Snake God - Documentary - director * Ganesh - The Elephant God (1990) - Documentary - director * Ladakh -The Forbidden Wilderness - Documentary - director * Ladakh -Desert in the Skies (1995) - Documentary - director * Sadhus: India's Holy Men (1995) - Documentary - cinematographer, producer * The Peacock Spring (1996) - Feature film - additional cinematographer * Earth Story (1998) - TV Series documentary - cinematographer * Kumbha Mela (2001) - TV Movie documentary - cinematographer * Animals of the Ocean Desert (2001) - TV Movie documentary - additional cinematographer * Monsoon Wedding (2001) - director of photography: second unit * Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom (2006) - TV Series documentary - one episode: Return of the Fire Cat - additional cinematographer, writer, producer and director * Beyond the Forest (2007) - Documentary short - actor as self * The Forest (2009) - Feature film - additional cinematographer for the wildlife scenes. * Cherub of the Mist (2009) - Documentary - director, producer

Awards and recognitions

Naresh Bedi is a recipient of the Earth Watch Award of

National Geographic Society The National Geographic Society (NGS), headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest non-profit scientific and educational organizations in the world. Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, and ...

and

Eastman Kodak The Eastman Kodak Company (referred to simply as Kodak ) is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in analogue photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorpor ...

Award. He received the Wildscreen Panda Award, popularly known as the Green Oscars, in 1984, for his cinematography for the documentary, ''The Ganges Gharial'', the first Asian to receive the award. In 1987, two of his films, ''Saving The Tiger'' and ''Man-Eating Tiger'', won nominations, though unsuccessfully, for the

, making him the first Indian to receive a wildlife film nomination in the

British Academy of Film and Television Arts British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

awards. He was awarded the ''Prithvi Ratna Award'' by the Centre for Media Studies and

United Nations Environment Programme The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is responsible for coordinating responses to environmental issues within the United Nations system. It was established by Maurice Strong, its first director, after the United Nations Conference on th ...

in 2005. Cherub of the Mist, the first film on the conservation of

, received 15 awards including three Classic Telly Awards, Wild Screen Panda Award, International Wildlife Film Festival Award, Wildlife Asia Award and International Wild Track Africa award. He has also won the ''Whale Award'' at the Wildlife Asia Film Festival, Singapore for his contribution to wildlife films. The

awarded him the civilian honour of

in 2015.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bedi, Naresh Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts Indian filmmakers Living people 20th-century Indian photographers Indian nature photographers People from Haridwar 20th-century Indian film directors Film and Television Institute of India alumni Year of birth missing (living people) Photographers from Uttarakhand

Biography

Filmography

Awards and recognitions

See also

References

Further reading

External links