Kumaré (2011) on Netflix
NR20111h 24mDocumentary
A filmmaker raised by Hindu immigrants grows skeptical of religion and invents Sri Kumaré, an Indian teacher from a village that does not exist. In Phoenix, Arizona, he gathers a following.
- Netflix4.0/5
- IMDb7.5/105,546 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes60%
Trailer
Plot summary
The filmmaker, the child of Hindu immigrants, becomes skeptical of religion as an adult. Noticing how popular yoga has grown in the United States, he decides to make a documentary about New Age teachers who cite ancient Indian practices to lend their own methods credibility. The gurus he meets, at home and in India, seem to him equally unconvincing. He decides to pose as one himself. He becomes Sri Kumaré, an enlightened teacher from Aali'kash, a village in India that does not exist, with a philosophy built on illusion and self-empowerment. He lets his hair and beard grow and speaks in a fabricated accent. He goes to Phoenix, Arizona, with a friend and a yoga teacher, and a group of followers forms around him.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Kumaré (2011)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Vikram Gandhi impersonated a guru from the fictional Indian village of Aali'kash, growing his hair and beard and adopting a fabricated Indian English accent to pass as 'Sri Kumaré'.
- Religious scholar Steven E. Lindquist reviewed Kumaré for The Journal of Asian Ethnology and uses the film as a teaching tool in his religious studies classes.
