SHORT CUT TO NIRVANA: KUMBH MELA
Directed & Produced by: Maurizio Benazzo & Nick Day.
Director of Photography: Maurizio Benazzo.
Edited by: Nick Day.
Music by: Bob Muller.
Released by: Mela Films.
Language: English & Hindi with English subtitles.
Country of Origin: USA. 85 min. Not Rated.

Legend has it that many, many years ago, the Gods and the demons were churning the oceans for the coveted holy nectar of immortality. Their churning finally lifted an urn of nectar from the depths of the waters and in the tussle that followed, four drops of the sacred nectar fell upon the earth. The locations that were honored with this unexpected blessing have become holy sites. Once every three years, one of the four Indian cities of Allahabad, Haridwar, Ujjain, and Nashik becomes the site of a pilgrimage for Hindus around the world. With tens of millions attending, the Kumbh Mela has become the largest gathering of humanity today. The event is sacred, and Hindus come from far and wide to wash away their sins with a dip in the scared river waters.

The documentary of the 2001 Kumbh Mela at Allahabad, A Shortcut to Nirvana: Kumbh Mela, scratches gingerly on the surface of this celebration. Using a novice, Swami Krishnanand, as its guide, the film treats the event more as a freak show than as a religious pilgrimage. Instead of trying to understand the significance of the gathering to pilgrims and gurus, it focuses mostly on interviews with Westermers coming to the gathering as spectators. While elephants, eye doctors, dread-locked babas and naked saints shock and awe the visitors, the symbolic value of these elements has escaped the filmmakers. The film gawks at the sights as if they were circus acts. Much of the content has been diluted by the soundtrack consisting of lounge music with Hindi lyrics. The sequence with a particular guru singing devotional music while a girl spins in a trance has been sped up and portrayed as if it were at a psychedelic trance party, and the camera gapes at another swami who has continually held one of his arms up for several years.

Though the film has clips of the Dalai Lama's visit and captures a Hindu religious leader walking through the site, it doesn't include interviews with the two men. While the film is commendable in that it has brought information about this hugely significant gathering to a Western audience, it doesn't do justice to the scale or significance of the event. Preeti Mankar
April 15, 2005