OUR WORK

Some of our Films
Aranya Parva - Daroji
Aranya Parva - Wings and Wetlands
Aranya Parva Gudekote
Tigers in the backyard

ABOUT US

Who we are
Rana & Sugandhi

Aranya Parva is a combination of two Sanskrit words, with Aranya meaning forest and Parva meaning book or chapter. Mahabharata is one of the ancient Indian epics, written in Sanskrit, and one of India’s greatest literary treasures. In the story, the Pandavas are sent into exile into the forest. There are 18 chapters in the Mahabharata and Aranya Parva, or the Book of the Forest, describes the life of the Pandavas during their 12-year exile.

 

This name, sans the part about the exile, is our inspiration. Aranya Parva Creations is our book of the forest. We have been learning from our experiences, from friends and mentors, and from the flora and fauna surrounding us. To be working in the wild, be it in pristine forests, lakes, rivers, or in our backyard gardens, is exciting and enriching. We love making and sharing these stories, as filmmakers and cinematographers.

 

We have worked as DoP/cameraperson for wildlife/environment productions broadcast on Animal Planet India, Love Nature/Smithsonian, National Geographic Society, Netflix and PBS. Furthermore, we are members of the IUCN’s Otter Specialist Group, working on observing and documenting smooth-coated otters in India.

AWARDS & NOMINATIONS

Recognition for our Work
Wings and Wetlands
Tiger in the Backyard
Gudekote
Daroji

CREDITS

Feature Film & Television credits include…
Aranya Parva H2O
Aranya Parva Into The Wild India
Aranya Parva Life In Color
Aranya Parva On the Brink
Aranya Parva Our Planet
Aranya Parva Wild Karnataka

  • THE REAL JUNGLE BOOK (IN PRODUCTION), CAMERAPERSONS

    Working as cameraperson for long lens and DSLR camera traps for sequences on Sloth Bears and Indian Wolves for an ORF production.

  • ATTENBOROUGH'S LIFE IN COLOUR (2021), ASST CAMERAPERSONS

    Worked as assistant camerapersons for the peafowl sequence.

  • H2O-THE MOLECULE THAT MADE US-PULSE (2020), CAMERAPERSON, DRONE OP

    Worked as cameraperson for the India leg of the Globe Skimmer sequence in Ep1 (PULSE) of this series broadcast on PBS.

  • OUR PLANET (2019), ASSISTANT CAMERAPERSON

    Worked as assistant camerapersons to film the Kumbh Mela in 2019.

  • WILD KARNATAKA (2019), CAMERAPERSONS

    Worked as cameraperson for 4 sequences for a 1-hour natural history documentary on the wildlife in Karnataka, India.

  • SEA TO SOURCE: GANGES – PLANET OR PLASTIC (2019), DOP

    Worked as DP to document National Geographic Society’s journey to better understand how plastic waste travels from source to sea.

  • ON THE BRINK – SEASON 1 (2018), PRINCIPAL CINEMATOGRAPHY FOR 6 OUT OF 8 EPISODES

    An 8-part presenter-led series, aired on Animal Planet India, that explores 8 species and their habitats rarely seen on Indian television.

  • INTO THE WILD - INDIA (2018), CAMERAPERSON

    Worked as cameraperson for 2 full episodes and 5 additional sequences of a 10-part wildlife series on India for Blue Ant Media/Smithsonian/Off The Fence.

  • OUT OF EDEN WALK (2018), CAMERAPERSON

    Worked as cameraperson to cover Paul Salopek and his team during their leg of the Out Of Eden Walk in Varanasi and Slow Journalism workshops in Kolkata, India. For National Geographic Society.

  • MINUTES TO DIE: THE WORLD’s IGNORED HEALTH CRISIS (2017), ASSISTANT CAMERA & FIXER

    The documentary explores the never-ending health crisis related to snake bite, the world’s “most ignored way to die”.

OUR TEAM

Award-winning wildlife filmmakers
Sugandhi Gadadhar

Sugandhi Gadadhar

Instagram

Sugandhi is a National Geographic Explorer, wildlife filmmaker, cinematographer, and voice-over artist. She was a 2020 Jackson Wild Media Lab Fellow, 2019 Jackson Wild Emerging Filmmaking Scholar. She loves doing long-lens filming, and enjoys run-and-gun cinematography, having worked in diverse locations ranging from quiet riverbanks to the biggest gathering of mammals on earth, the Kumbh Mela in India.

Raghunath Belur Rana

Raghunath 'Rana' Belur

Rana is a cinematographer, wildlife filmmaker and a tech geek. He was a 2020 Jackson Wild Summit Fellow. He is the happiest when he needs to observe and film animal behaviour. He loves telling stories about the beauty of our nature and wildlife to bring about awareness on issues related to their conservation.

CONTACT

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