There were two primary reasons for watching 'Secrets of Wild India'. Am a big nature documentary fan and have been on a binge watching the famous and highly regarded ones and pleasant new discoveries which so far has seen few disappointments. The other reason being my love and admiration for the national treasure that is David Attenborough.
When it comes to documentary presenters/narrators he is hard to beat and his best work (haven't seen anything bad from him) are works of art. While not my favourite of his work or one of his best, or one of the standout documentaries of my binge, 'Secrets of Wild India' is still a wonderful and fascinating series. If one has to be recommended a documentary on Indian wildlife, 'Secrets of Wild India' should be strongly considered.
First and foremost, 'Secrets of Wild India' looks amazing. It is gorgeously filmed, done in a completely fluid and natural, sometimes intimate (a great way of connecting even more with the tigers), way and never looking static. In fact much of it is remarkably cinematic and intimate, which are lovely qualities to see in a documentary series. The editing is always succinct and smooth and the scenery is pure magic.
Music score fits very well generally, generally not overly grandiose while never being inappropriate with some lovely sound. Occasionally it is a little intrusive and could have been used less, my only complaint of the series (other than it maybe could have been a little longer with so much to cover).
'Secrets of Wild India' fascinates, teaches, moves, entertains and transfixes. In terms of the facts there was a very good mix of the known ones and the unknown, while also dealing with the subject with tact. Their intelligence comes out on screen crystal clear and how they live is a nice mix of old and new in how it's shown.
Narration by Attenborough helps significantly. He clearly knows his stuff and knows what to say and how to say it. He delivers it with his usual richness, soft-spoken enthusiasm and sincerity, never talking down to the viewer and keeping them riveted and wanting to know more. Some may not find 'Secrets of Wild India' treating the respective animals in a human-like way in all the instalments to their taste, personally love it myself and it made it easier connecting and relating to the animals and the things covered. It doesn't feel over-subjective or too speculative or have too much of a story approach that could compromise the facts.
It's not just visually beautiful and informative. The elephants, tigers and lions primarily featured show a mix of playfulness, pathos, cuteness and ruthlessness, with glimpses of rhinos, buffalo as just a couple of examples. 'Secrets of Wild India' also displays a wide range of emotions and found myself really caring for everything that was shown to us on screen. There is some charm seeing the behaviours, with some fierce and emotional moments too, there is a lot of personality. Found myself really caring for what is said and shown to us, loved the intimate portrayal of the animals featured.
To make things even more intriguing, it is not just the animals that 'Secrets of Wild India' focuses on. It also focuses in well-explored, well-researched and fascinating detail three different biotypes (flora, fauna and humans) as well as the different environments of India (the desert, Himalayas and jungle).
'Secrets of Wild India' didn't ever feel like an episodic stringing of scenes, but instead like the best nature documentaries all three parts felt like their own story and journey, with real, complex emotions and conflicts. With so much covered, one worries about bloating but the series just about avoids that potential trap.
Overall, wonderful with very little to complain about, other than wishing it was a little longer and the music used a little better. Have seen complaints for the annoying subtitles on the DVD, being somebody who rarely uses subtitles this didn't bother me. 9/10 Bethany Cox
