Kumaré

Get Showtimes + Tickets

  • Opened June 20, 2012 (Limited)
  • 1 hr 24 min

  • Kumaré is a wise guru from the East who indoctrinated a group of followers in the West. Kumaré, however, is not real - he is the alter ego of American filmmaker Vikram Gandhi who impersonated a spiritual leader for the sake of a social experiment designed to challenge one of the most widely accepted taboos: that only a tiny “1%” can connect the rest of the world to a higher power. Concealing his true identity from everyone he meets, Kumaré forges profound and spiritual connections with people from all walks of life. At the same time, in the absurdity of living as an entirely different person, Vikram, the filmmaker, is forced to confront difficult questions about his own identity. At the height of his popularity, Kumaré unveils his true identity to a core group of disciples who are knee-deep in personal transformation. Will they accept his final teaching? Can this illusion reveal a greater spiritual truth? Full synopsis

  • Cast: Vikram Gandhi, Purva Bedi, Kristen Calgaro
  • Director: Vikram Gandhi
  • Genres: Documentary

What's the Buzz?

Must Go!
Fans say Must Go!
30 fans
Read fan reviews
So-so
Critics say So-So
60 out of 100
Read critic reviews
Write your own review

Fan Reviews

Must Go!
It's definitely NOT Borat as Guru...

by RedDog3

It will surprise and sneak up on you in a very good way....

Must Go!
awesome movie

by Noe_Avelar

I was really eager to see Kumaré. did not disappoint. smart & funny well worth watching...

Read more fan reviews

Critic Reviews

80
Arizona Republic
| Bill Goodykoontz

As Kumaré plays out, both Gandhi and the film become something else, something much more thoughtful and moving. It is, as he puts it, the biggest lie he has ever told and the greatest truth he has ever known. Read full review

80
Salon.com
| Andrew O'Hehir

When Vikram Gandhi set out to become a guru, he didn't expect to really become a guru. But that's what happens in his slippery, ambiguous, tense and finally moving Kumaré, which is officially termed a documentary but could also be considered as the video corollary to a thorny work of performance art. Read full review

75
New York Post
|

Gandhi is talented enough, and compassionate enough, that his tour of the human need to believe in something becomes not just mocking, but touching. Read full review

75
Chicago Sun-Times
|

In a sense, the deception he practices on his followers is contemptible, but in another sense, they're all in it together. The film's implication seems to be: It doesn't matter if a religion's teachings are true. What matters is if you think they are. Read full review

Read more critic reviews

Offers