Review of Kumaré (2012) by Spencer S — 17 Apr 2013

This documentary deals with an experiment done by the director Vikram Gandhi. He decided to pretend to be a yogi guru and presented himself as someone he wasn't, he tricked an entire gaggle of people into believing he was a thoughtful and insightful man of the East.

In actuality the man behind this simple ruse was a man of Indian descent who was born and raised in New Jersey, who originally was out to make a film about the gurus of his native country. After visiting India he realized that they were all corrupt and not truthful which lead people into poverty and ruin.

These gurus were not specifically religious leaders, but the devotion exhibited by their followers was in the same vein as a leader, and Gandhi took this concept and decided to explore it further. He grew out his hair and beard to long lengths, wore traditional Indian clothing, and spoke with an Indian accent, which he took from his grandmother.

He went to Arizona, and soon afterwards a legion of followers cropped up. The rest of the film is Gandhi coming up with his own mantras, tricking people into learning his teachings, making up symbols to put on their foreheads, and giving them sage advice.

After a while he distances himself from trying to trick these people and actually bonds with them thanks to them opening up to him. He gives them the same teachings to ponder, like any other guru, but over time he tries to get them to understand that they don't need a guru.

What they needed, all along, was themselves, and as he gains some hardcore followers at a yoga studio, they come into his life, he goes into theirs and they both help each other. He severs the ties that bind them, eventually, so that they can move on.

As a moral debate on whether you should be able to trick people, this film comes in handy. Many people are split on how they feel about the tricks that Gandhi uses, but at the end some people actually understand what he was trying to do, and thank him.

If you believe this is going to be a joke documentary about people's stupidity, it's not. It's simply about how we can find self-happiness without the intervention of self-proclaimed medicine men of the mystical East.