Vikram
Gandhi is from New Jersey (so allowances should be made). He will pass himself off as an Indian guru,
finding plenty of New Age suckers to fall for his docu-punking. While all religions are his stated target, he
will inadvertently prove Hamilton’s maxim about falling for anything if you
believe in nothing. Indeed, it is like
Marin County at the height of the est craze in Gandhi’s Kumare (trailer
here), which
opens tomorrow in New York at the IFC Center.
After
a trip to wardrobe and a stop at hair & makeup, Gandhi is ready to give
Phoenix Whole Foods customers the full Borat treatment in his Sri Kumare
persona. Fresh from his Indian ashram,
Kumare makes the rounds of the local yoga circuit trolling for disciples. To look legit, he has two co-conspirators,
Purva Bedi and Kristen Galgaro, who act like Price is Right models for the holistic scene.
Granted,
it takes a bit of time for Kumare to kick start his guru practice, but before
long, he has a room full of Volvo drivers hanging on his every word. The devilish part is the essence of Kumarism:
Kumare is fake—you are your own guru. It
is so obvious, one can almost see how his loyal followers missed such a
fundamental clue.
If
nothing else, Gandhi proves he can shoot fish in a barrel. It is pretty clear the spirituality set is
just asking to be taken for a ride.
Frankly, they are lucky to have fallen in with Kumare, who scrupulously
refrained from fleecing the flock. However, they hardly prove Gandhi’s bigger rational
materialist point. Ironically, had they
been asked, Kumarists would probably have said they were too free-thinking for
organized religion. Indeed, it seems a
safe bet they are “spiritual, not religious.”