Ever wonder what it would be like to join 70 million of your closest friends as they find their way to spiritual bliss? The new documentary, opening in limited release on a city-by-city tour, Shortcut to Nirvana tries to clue you in, just in case you couldn’t be there. The documentary chronicles the 2001 Kumbh Mela festival, one of the oldest, largest, and most fascinating festivals on earth. Kumbh Melas are typically held every 12 years, and the mela held in 2001 was an extra special mela as it was technically a Maha Kumbh Mela, which only occurs every 144 years, where the Ganga and Yamuna rivers meet, in Allahabad, India.
The film, by Maurizio Benazzo and Nick Day, attempts to offer a snapshot of the festival, and I think to try and do more would be an impossible task for a documentary. To view the trailer, click here and for news and theatre listings, click here.
To find out more about Kumbh Mela’s click here.
I saw this movie with my parents at a screening with the guy who filmed the movie. It’s really fascinating.
Looks really interesting. I love those Sadhu’s. I think the Rastafarians copied their style. Is it true that this is the biggest pilgramage on Earth? Amazing.
This movie is an inaccurate portrayal of the festival. My family is from Allahabad (where the Kumbh Mela takes place) and my sister went to the Maha Kumbh Mela in 2001 which is when this “documentary” was filmed. It is the equivalent of a National Geographic film. If you believe this film then you might as well presume that India is full of barbaric aborigines and has yet to discover the ways of a modern world. The people in this film are there
they are the circus type characters that come out of the woodwork at every major gathering in the world. But they are very much considered a side-show act and do not reflect the majority nor the purpose of the Mela. They refer to certain events out of context and with fictitious explanations. They make a mockery of this pilgrimage. If their purpose was to make an accurate documentary then they missed every salient detail.
Heads up, New York Mutineers: ImaginAsian Theatre (59th between 2nd and 3rd) is going to start showing this film from April 22nd…
who wants a field trip, kids?