Where Does Reality Begin and End?
My day was all planned out, after An Affair of the Heart I planned on going to see The Gruffalo’s Child, which looked super cute (opposite of my normal slasher film). While waiting for An Affair of the Heart to start, I run into LanceAround. I ask him where the Garden Theatre is located (so I don’t get lost again like last year), and he tells me an additional 45 minutes away. Since I already live about 2 hours from where the FFF is held, I changed my plans a bit.
I look at the schedule and decided upon Kumare, which I originally did not plan on seeing at all during this year’s festival. Before Kumare starts, Peggy announces that the short Maurice will precede the feature. She gives the audience a disclaimer that it has some nudity and that it’s about the last porn cinema in Paris. This short did not capture my attention, and the nudity that was shown was not needed or classy, since it just used as a backdrop behind the cinema owner. I couldn’t wait for it to end and for Kumare to start.
Kumare is about a self appointed ‘guru.’ Vikram Gandhi (Kumare) grows out his hair, uses his grandmother’s accent and goes undercover to start a following. His point is to prove that no one is more spiritual that anyone else. He made up chants and taught nonsense rituals that people followed with no questions asked.
This ‘religious belief’ was reported to be the longest prank ever documented. The point behind the film is that you don’t need anyone outside yourself to make you happy.
I was actually shocked by this film as I didn’t really want to see it. It captured my attention and really made me think about people and society. What are people thinking? What makes someone follow a person or religion? As Vikram said, most gurus and spiritual leaders a full of it, and I completely agree. You shouldn’t need a religion or person telling you that you can have personal happiness; you just need to recognize the guru within yourself.
Lance Around Orlando 
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