Kumaré

Kūmāré is a 2011 documentary film directed by and starring American filmmaker Vikram Gandhi, who poses as an Indian guru to satirize the New Age movement.

Kūmāré
Directed byVikram Gandhi
Produced byBryan Carmel
Brendan Colthurst
StarringVK Gandhi
Purva Bedi
Kristen Calgaro
Music byAlex Kliment
CinematographyKahlil Hudson
Edited byAdam Barton
Nathan Russell
Distributed byKino Lorber
Release date
  • March 13, 2011 (2011-03-13) (SXSW)
  • June 20, 2012 (2012-06-20) (United States)
Running time
84 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$132,160[1]

Production

Gandhi came up with the idea of a fictional guru while recording another documentary film about yogis and their followers.[2]

To make the documentary, Gandhi transformed himself into Sri Kumaré, an enlightened guru from a fictional village in India, by adopting a fake Indian accent and growing out his hair and beard. In the film, Kumaré travels to Arizona to spread his made-up philosophy and gain sincere followers.[3][4]

Reception

Kumaré premiered at the 2011 South by Southwest Film Festival (SXSW), where it received the festival's Feature Film Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature.[5]

Kumaré received fair reviews upon release. Many movie reviewers criticized Gandhi's deception as immoral, but partially forgave Gandhi for realizing that the experiment had grown out of his control. Many compared the character of Kumaré and the deception by Gandhi to Sacha Baron Cohen's Borat character and film.

Stephen Holden of the New York Times and Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times praised the film's message of "finding the guru within".[6][7]

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gollark: This is a bit apiobees?
gollark: How come YOU have forceskip powers? And are using them?
gollark: ~fs
gollark: ++remind 1h <@319753218592866315> should be punished for admin abuse

References
  1. "Kumare (2012)." Box Office Mojo. 7 February 2013. 9 May 2013.
  2. Kumaré: A True Film About a False Prophet. Time. Event occurs at 00:51-00:57. Retrieved 23 May 2012.
  3. Melissa Bell (16 March 2012). "'Kumare' film examines blurred lines of virtual identities". The Washington Post. Retrieved 23 May 2012.
  4. Bryce J. Renninger (16 March 2011). "SXSW '11 | "Borat" Gets Religion: An Interview With "Kumare" Director". indieWire. Retrieved 23 May 2012.
  5. Dave McNary (22 December 2011). "Kino Lorber nabs 'Kumare': Gandhi pic won Audience Award at SXSW". Variety. Retrieved 23 May 2012.
  6. Holden, Stephen. "Finding Some Principles by Telling Some Lies." New York Times. 19 June 2012. 9 May 2013.
  7. Ebert, Roger. "Kumare." Roger Ebert. 8 August 2012. 9 May 2013.


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