Bikram: Yogi, Guru, Predator

If you want to see a good documentary see wild wild country, which shows you a story from both sides. Not a one sided view from the start edited wholly and solely to force a point. The editing is so bad. Like there is a scene where they put his photo with his finger on his lip like he is saying ssshhh just after an interview. Really? Subtle much! I don't know Bikram Choudhary or even yoga for that matter. My rating is based on the content of this documentary and it was bad. It definitely looks like the producers had an ulterior motive behind making this.

I have friends who swear by hot yoga, and there are still centers in the US calling themselves Bikram yoga, so obviously Bikram is still making money from yoga. How did he get started and why did he become so popular? I see gurus like this even today displayed all day on TV in India and it is a constant debate between me and my mother about the authenticity of these people. When people have no hope in life, the desire to belong and feel wanted and a part of something is so strong that it overrules the mind. Bikram made his hot yoga a "thing" and his personality made people feel drawn to him because he stood out and was talked about by everyone everywhere. When I saw him on TV, I saw him as a disgusting man who pushed boundaries and in the process made a lot of money which went to his head, he thought he could do anything and demand anything. How did he get people to follow him? I found the documentary very insightful since I didn't know about the cases against him. Having said that, the quality itself is a bit lacking and not to the level of say Fyre Festival probably because as much information is not available about his personal life, which is probably why he got away with it all. It is still a very good watch.