Who’d have thought it just a few months ago? The biggest-grossing movie ever turns out to be an environmental film. Not an eco-documentary – like March of the Penguins, The Age of Stupid or even An Inconvenient Truth – of course, but the Hollywood blockbuster, Avatar. Directed by James Cameron – of Aliens, Terminator, and Titanic – it combines epic storytelling, spectacular design, groundbreaking special effects, and intense action that enable audiences to take in a green message for our own planet earth.

Avatar, the first masterpiece of a new genre science fiction, has got its release in Gujarat Science City IMAX 3D Theater, Ahmedabad on 26th May 2010.

The story opens in 2154, when Earth’s natural resources have been depleted. Jake Sully, a former marine who has lost the use of his legs, goes to Pandora, a moon with a lush, Earthlike environment 4.4 light years away. Humans, led by the ‘Resources Development Administration’ and backed with military force, have colonized it for three decades and are mining a rare mineral (inevitably called unobtainium), needed for energy generation on Earth. The Administration wants a closer relationship with Pandora’s inhabitants – tall blue warriors called the Na’vi – in order to control them and their resources.

Pandora’s atmosphere is toxic to humans, so the team of scientists who aim to study its rich biosphere create ‘avatars’, genetically engineered Na’vi-human hybrids driven by human neurological systems. Jake has been summoned to drive one made with the DNA of his dead twin brother so that he can gather intelligence to use against the Na’vi.

But he becomes enchanted with Pandora’s environment and, helped by Netyiri, a Na’vi princess, he learns to navigate the moon’s landscapes and comes to respect its creatures and to understand its spiritual force – Eywa – which connects all its life. Ultimately, Jake switches sides, becoming a Na’vi himself and leading Pandora’s defence against the encroaching humans.

Not exactly a subtle message, but Cameron did not intend it to be. ‘We know what’s going on with the environment but we’re in denial,’ he says. ‘Denial is a response based on fear of change, of the sacrifices we’re going to have to make.

‘Humans think: “We’re here, we’re big, we’ve got the guns and the brains, therefore we’re entitled to everything on this planet”.’ He goes on: ‘That’s not how it works. We’re going to learn the hard way unless we wise up and start seeking a life that’s in balance with the natural cycles of Earth.’

But rather than hit people with facts and figures, he wanted to do it with emotion. ‘I wanted people to feel the environmental message, not think about it. It’s the exact opposite of An Inconvenient Truth, which certainly offers information. But in an action film, it’s more important to get these concepts viscerally.’

So Cameron made Pandora’s environment as life-like as possible, taking inspiration from Earth’s biodiversity. ‘We had tables covered with books about animal biology and anatomy, photo books with the textures of everything from the back of a tortoise to poison dart frogs. We studied the interaction between the skin and beak of a hornbill. We used nature’s resourcefulness and imagination to fuel us, which is why the creatures feel real.’

Avatar’s design was also inspired by Cameron’s passion for the deep sea, from the jelly fish like seeds of the Na’vi’s sacred tree to the night time bioluminescence of its wildlife. ‘Growing up in the 1960s, I was a science-fiction fanatic, and loved the idea of space exploration. I knew I would never get to go to another planet, but ocean exploration seemed like a good alternative.’

His love of diving even helped lay the technological groundwork for Avatar, the world’s first 3D blockbuster. While working on Titanic – the 12-year record holder for biggest grossing film – he developed his own digital 3D camera system to capture the experience of deep ocean exploration. He filmed two documentaries with this technology, one exploring the wreck of the Titanic, the other examining the creatures of mid-ocean ridges.

‘There’s so much we don’t know,’ Cameron says. ‘On every dive I see something I never could have imagined. A diaphanous jelly fish 2 meters across. A pink octopus with wings on its head. Blind shrimp swarming just centimeters from water hot enough to melt lead. Nothing the artifice of Hollywood has to offer can compete with the thrill of something this exciting and 100 per cent real.’

There have even been reports of ‘Avatar depression’: audience members so taken by Pandora’s beauty that they find it difficult to readjust to real life. ‘Pandora seemed like such a perfect place, and I became disgusted with the sight of our world, what we have done to Earth,’ said Manjay Kumar, a 16-year old student and SSC topper of Gujarat in CBSE Board this year.

Avatar has so far made more than $2 billion at the box office in a world-wide manner, along the way winning many nominations and awards, including three Oscars for best art direction, cinematography and visual effects.

‘Avatar asks us all to be warriors for the Earth,’ says Shri Ravi S. Saxena, Principal Secretary, Department of Science & Technology, Government of Gujarat. ‘It creates a sense of moral outrage, and then a sense of uplift when good conquers evil. When you put those two things together it creates a ripe emotional matrix for people to want to take action.’

The message seems to have hit a nerve. Teachers and science educators are now approaching for creating curricula around Avatar. Activists have used the movie’s popularity to draw attention to real life conflicts happening all over the world between indigenous peoples and corporate interests, some asking to explicitly champion individual causes.

What did you glean from Avatar?

‘What really caught my attention were the futuristic style of the film and the 3D presentation. Young people love out of the box ideas and stories, something that will tickle our minds and take us beyond the boundaries of this world. As I watched the film, I reflected on the real life environmental problems and challenges that we confront, caused by greed and abuse of resources. Avatar conveys two important messages: first, we should respect, protect and preserve our environment for future generations, and second, we should not be afraid to fight for what we believe is right.’

-Dr. Yogesh T Jasrai, Prof & Head, Department of Botany, Gujarat University

‘Eywa keeps the ecosystem in perfect equilibrium and the Tree of Souls are like the keystone species of our fragile environment; remove it and the whole ecosystem will gradually collapse. The Na’vi, who understood this, fought hard to protect their own natural heritage. They are like our environmentalists, conservationists and researchers.’

-G. C. Brahmbhatt, Executive Director, Gujarat Science City, Ahmedabad