PRODUCTION NOTES

Heat, Dust, and Chapatis...

The moment we heard about the Kumbh Mela we knew it was a story that needed to be told. It seemed beyond belief, that so many millions of people could gather together and almost no-one outside of India know anything about it. How could such an incredible event have escaped the notice of the rest of the world?

The next step was to decide how to tell that story. We decided to travel to India and find a local translator and guide. The format would be fairly conventional, with preplanned interviews and scripted voiceover. All very straightforward…

But nothing in India – particularly shooting a documentary – ever goes as planned.

What happened instead is that on the very first day we met and were quickly "adopted" by the irrepressible Swami Krishnanand, who through his ebullience, humor, and charm took us on quite a different path. As a Hindu monk in orange robes he had access to many gurus and yogis we might have otherwise missed completely. His strong personality soon found its way on camera, and before long he was conducting interviews himself! To add romantic spice to the mix, he developed a huge crush for one of our Western subjects, a blonde nurse practitioner from New York on her own spiritual journey.

As a result, the film loosened up considerably and became more an experience of the event in Krishnanand’s company. We shifted our objectives and decided to create something far more organic and free, with set pieces that would capture both the sublime and the surreal. We also wanted the gurus to speak in their own words and show off their own particular meditation techniques, some of which – such as sitting on nails – sparked a debate on whether the "true" path can include such blatant spectacle.

Ultimately the Kumbh Mela turned out to be an expression of devotion and joy on a scale unheard of in the West. It was simultaneously exhilarating, exhausting, and enlightening. We hope and believe we have captured something of its essence in our film.


Nick Day
Maurizio Benazzo