Kumaré

Kumaré
Directed by Vikram Gandhi
Produced by Bryan Carmel
Brendan Colthurst
Starring Vikram Gandhi
Purva Bedi
Kristen Calgaro
Music by Alex Kliment
Cinematography Kahlil Hudson
Edited by Adam Barton
Nathan Russell
Distributed by Kino Lorber
Release dates
  • March 13, 2011 (2011-03-13) (SXSW)
  • June 20, 2012 (2012-06-20) (United States)
Running time
 84 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Box office $132,160[1]

Kumaré is an American 2011 documentary film directed by Vikram Gandhi.

To record the documentary, American filmmaker Vikram 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.[2][3]

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.[4] Gandhi came up with the idea of a fictional guru while recording another documentary film about yogis and their followers.[5]

Reception

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. Those who liked the movie, like 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]

References

  1. ↑ "Kumare (2012)." Box Office Mojo. 7 February 2013. 9 May 2013.
  2. ↑ Melissa Bell (16 March 2012). "'Kumare' film examines blurred lines of virtual identities". The Washington Post. Retrieved 23 May 2012.
  3. ↑ Bryce J. Renninger (16 March 2011). "SXSW '11 | "Borat" Gets Religion: An Interview With "Kumare" Director Vikram Gandhi". indieWire. Retrieved 23 May 2012.
  4. ↑ Dave McNary (22 December 2011). "Kino Lorber nabs 'Kumare': Vikram Gandhi pic won Audience Award at SXSW". Variety. Retrieved 23 May 2012.
  5. ↑ Kumaré: A True Film About a False Prophet. Time. Event occurs at 00:51-00:57. 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.

External links

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