Nelanjana Bhowmik

A monastery in a remote corner of northern Thailand houses nine monks who live there in tranquillity. Keeping them company are deer, wild boars, rabbits, chicken… and 11 tigers. If this extraordinary cohabitation of man and beast has brought Wat Pa Luangta Maha Bua in focus on Animal Planet, it is the presence of Maek, the Royal Bengal tiger in the pack of 11, which has brought the 45-minute documentary film, Temple of Tigers, to Calcutta, prior to its beaming on September 5 at 10 pm.

“It is an extraordinary film. And the connection of tigers with Bengal made us bring the preview here,” said Rajeev Bakshi, manager, corporate communications, Discovery India. The screening at Incognito was a promotional campaign for Animal Planet. “Our viewership has grown by about 25 per cent over the past 12 months,” Bakshi said. And Calcutta figures among the pet pockets.

Bakshi attributes the rise in viewership to interesting content, strategic scheduling as well as vigorous marketing. “The time-band strategy, targeting specific programmes for the kind of audience expected at the time of the day, has paid off. If Discovery Kids comes in the afternoon, exotic resorts featuring beachwear are beamed at night on Late Discovery.”

If tigers made Animal Planet choose Calcutta as the only preview destination, other Discovery programmes went to other cities, depending on synergy. “Anne Ramsay, the actress in Mad About You, wanted her house redone as a sultan’s mansion in our Monster House series. We did a preview for it in Hyderabad, the Nizam’s town. Similarly, a programme on Bobby Cash came first to Delhi as the country singer used to sing at a hotel there.”

Discovery has even hit the streets with roadshows in Bangalore with another one lined up in Mumbai in September. “We are coming to Calcutta as well,” he signed off.

Those who caught the preview on Thursday were in for a bonus visual treat — Nelanjana Bhowmik , who was present more as an animal activist than as an actress. “I watch most of the shows on Animal Planet. When I was approached to attend this screening, I read up on the tigers. It’s amazing how these 11 Thai monks are rescuing and protecting the animals,” she said after the screening.