In a very material world of designer haircuts and stylish togs, Vikram Gandhi, 33, did a radical thing: he grew his hair long and nurtured a massive beard. Forsaking all, he donned saffron robes, a fake accent and armed with a trident, became Kumare, the enlightened founder of the Sri Kumare spiritual movement.

Really?

Well, not really. Vikram Gandhi, you see, is a New York based-filmmaker and he is a fake guru in a real documentary, ‘Kumare’. Or as the film is billed, ‘The true story of a false prophet’.

“Judgey Indians and judgey people make my blood boil. And judgey people are everywhere. But I find comfort in the fact that I live in a city where anything goes. Black. White. Purple. (And I’m just talking about hair color.) All ethnicities. All types.

If you want to get married 8 times or 2 times, you can. If you are 60 and want to date someone who is 20, you can. I love that I can have a conversation with someone about the merits of drinking a 2007 cabernet sauvignon or something banal such as the overload of traffic once the stadium goes up in Brooklyn.”
Joya Dass talks to Monica Marwah on ‘The Single Desi’ – Guest Blog

“Before touching ground, I had already decided that this film would be about children. Eye disease is an affliction commonly associated with the old. But, one fifth of the world’s blind children live in India. In my mind, it’s a demographic that still has their whole lives ahead of them. I needed a Director of Photography who was a master at artfully capturing children.

Marcelo Bukin, who had shot and directed many award winning films (Dreaming Nicaragua), was originally from Argentina, but had spent time shooting films for foundations in Latin America. His reel of a little cobbler boy named Joseu speaking about how his father beats his mother, got me.” – Joya Dass, filmmaker, ‘First Sight’