The effort to muzzle The Love Guru, initiated two months ago with Hindu leader Rajan Zed’s public request to pre-screen the made-in-Toronto Mike Myers comedy in advance of is June 20 release, has spread into the film’s home turf.

Bavna Shinde, the Virginia-based spokesperson for awareness organization Hindu Janajagruti Samiti boasted last week of writing to every film exhibitor in Canada. She has asked them to “stop distributing or screening the movie till Paramount has made necessary changes to the movie, so that it will not hurt the feelings of the worldwide spiritual and Hindu community.”

Joining in this campaign is the Spiritual Science Research Foundation, whose editor Sean Clarke has outlined the spiritual consequence for being associated in the movie. Based on an afterlife demerit point system, those involved with making the movie can anticipate residence in the second region of hell for 1,000 years. Watching it for entertainment would carry its share of consequences, too.

“I could not believe my eyes when the trailer revealed Mike Myers playing a Guru through a whole range of denigrating scenes,” writes Clarke, “some of which are quite lurid, such as the Guru wearing a chastity belt, having an erection, involved in bar brawls, accepting money to play cupid, etc.

“Has Paramount Pictures given any thought to the adverse cultural repercussions of producing such a movie? The grace of the Guru is the most important factor in realizing the basic spiritual purpose of life. How can we work to attain the grace of someone we have disrespect for? Thus we suffer a great loss.”

But the claim by Hindu Janajagruti Samiti that the British Film Institute was won over by their protest, due to heeding cultural sensitivities, was swiftly refuted: “The BFI is known throughout the world for its promotion of alternative cinema. It is also a favourite haunt of cinema lovers in London but, typically, does not screen Hollywood blockbusters like The Love Guru.”

That blunder aside, 35-year-old Shinde is determined to get her message out there. Canada, home of human rights commissions considering complaints over the writings of Mark Steyn, may be just the place to get these sentiments heard.

“I feel that so long as everyone feels like laughing that’s an acceptable line,” she tells Scrolling Eye. “The line is crossed when feelings are hurt.

“Hindus are quite tolerant people. But now we’re seeing Hollywood taking advantage of that tolerance, by thinking it’s OK to ridicule sacred symbols.

“If someone claims to be on a spiritual path, and says they’re not offended by what they see in the trailer for The Love Guru, it’s because they’ve never encountered a true guru,” she says. “A guru gives you what no one else can. A guru holds hope for humanity today, and holds the answer to the world’s problems. The guru’s uplift contributes to your spiritual evolution and power — it’s a complete paradigm shift in the way you view life, and it helps you attack your problems. This movie seeks to undermine the idea of that particular institution.”

The classified section of the current issue of EYE WEEKLY features an advert headlined “Guru Pitka Will Teach You Sitar” with a picture of Myers’ bearded character: “The Guru Pitka is not only an accredited sitar teacher, he is also a spiritual teacher affiliated with no one faith and has combined many disparate disciplines into a united movement of human potentiality and equipoise.” Readers are advised to visit — where else but? — TheLoveGuru.com.

Rajan Zed’s initial communiqué similarly looked at first glance to be cooked up by Paramount Pictures. But the priest, rabbi and yoga teacher supporting the Reno, Nevada-based Hindu leader verified otherwise. Reached via email, Zed is still sticking Paramount vice-president of national publicity Jessica Rovins to her promise that he’s deserving of the first look at a finished print — first look at a finished print – citing as precedent Paramount's accommodations in 1988 prior to the release of Martin Scorcese's The Last Temptation of Christ.

“It is a general feeling among religious — Hindu as well as non-Hindu — leaders I come across that filmmakers should be more responsible when handling faith-based subjects,” writes Zed. “Happiness is the declared aim of all Hindu systems. But laughter should not be disrespectful.

“From the information available about the movie, it appears to be lampooning Hinduism and Hindus and using Hindu terms frivolously.”

Deepak Chopra, a friend and influence of Myers with a cameo in the film, reportedly snapped back at Zed’s campaign on his blog at Beliefnet — the Rupert Murdoch-controlled site partnering with Paramount for an earnest promotion.

“The protestors expose the insecurity of Hindus who don't believe that their faith can stand on its own,” wrote Chopra. “Silliness often has wisdom hidden just beneath the surface … but if you can't accept silliness in the first place, you are likely to be immune to wisdom, too.”

Chopra’s forthcoming publication, to be released in conjunction with The Love Guru, is called Why Is God Laughing? The book is dedicated is to Mike Myers.

“Deepak Chopra is well defined,” writes Zed. “Nothing to add.”
 
And what does Zed think of the star who is being banked on to sell movie tickets? “I know Michael John Myers is a creative artist.” Full stop.

Another filmmaker recently targeted by Hindu Janajagruti Samiti for alleged defamation of Hinduism isn’t too keen on the controversy, either.

“The Love Guru doesn’t look to me like a piece of art,” says Nina Paley, whose one-woman animated feature film Sita Sings the Blues was inspired by the ancient Hindu epic, the Ramayana. “The fact that the studio even consented to an advance screening indicates that the most important thing to them is market research.”

Sita Sings the Blues, which uses the flawed relationship between gods as an allegory for Paley’s own marriage breakdown while living in India, was seized upon by Hindu Janajagruti Samiti, who claim that it’s defamatory — even though those complaining about the portrayal have never seen the film.

The subsequent troll infestation on Paley’s website, promising all sorts of violent reprisals for her irreverence, only served to convince her that Sita’s sensibilities weren’t offensive to anyone sensible — least of all the devout Hindus who voiced her animated characters for fun rather than money.

“I doubt anyone worked on The Love Guru for free,” she says. “And I wouldn’t rush to defend Mike Myers as the pinnacle of artistic integrity. The way in which [North] American culture interfaces with India is changing, and his approach strikes me as a bit outdated.

“There’s plenty of humour in India. Humour is a pretty widespread universal thing. Satire, on the other hand, is not.”

Previously on the Scroll: No Love for Mike Myers?

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