Short Cut To Nirvana
by Maurizio Benazzo, Nick Day
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Actor: Jasper Johal, Justin Davis, Pilot Baba, Swami Krishnanad, Yog MataDirector: Maurizio Benazzo, Nick Day
Brand: Zeitgeist Films
Cinematographer: Maurizio Benazzo
Producer: Maurizio Benazzo
Cinematographer: Nick Day
Editor: Nick Day
Producer: Nick Day
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; Hindi (Original Language)
Format: Color, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.66:1
Running Time: 85 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-10-25
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Zeitgeist Films
DVD Reviews of Short Cut To Nirvana
DVD Review: A stunning film - very rare footage
Summary: 5 Stars
The film reveals footage of fascinating personalities, which interestingly also includes those in its cast. The level of ecstatic spirituality captured in the film is quite astonishing and infectious. Brian E. Erland's review on this page says it all very well, I'll just add a few observations of mine.
Surprisingly, it is an equally rare portal for the urbanized, secularized Indians. The urban Indian population is often educated in schools and colleges run by Christian missionaries and thus grows up with a profound sense of shame and denial for their Hindu spiritual roots. As it happened with Yoga, it is perhaps up to the "Westerners" like Benazzo & Day to rescue/document such fast vanishing traditions in globalizing India (check out Paula Fouce directed 'Naked in Ashes') for posterity.
Nirvana (literally, to extinguish) is a word in Sanskrit, the classical language of Hinduism, that denotes liberation as defined in Buddhism, another Indic religion. The Hindus themselves use a different key word for the same purpose - Moksha.
Why is the film on the most sacred Hindu gathering not titled `Shortcut to Moksha'? The answer to this question might be a good way to show why this film is an amazing one.
Firsly, because most Westerners find the complexity of Hinduism overwhelming and prefer the neatly packaged Buddhism instead. (In the Kumbh Mela meeting with HH the Dalai Lama, as shown in this film, the Sankaracarya, one of the foremost Hindu authorities present in the same meeting, is not even mentioned once - not exactly in keeping with the spirit of the harmony emphasized upon by HH.)
Thus a non-judgmental yet engaging depiction of Hindu faith like this film is in itself a rare find in the West, which is otherwise regularly fed with exaggerated tales of horrid caste discrimination and bride burning thanks to the gratuitous reporting by missionaries (or their journalistic/academic counterparts).
Secondly, because you can get away easily with using the more familiar (in the West) but less "Hindu" word Nirvana owing to the famed Hindu principle of universal tolerance which was such wonderfully celebrated in this movie (and in the Mela spirit, of course). Try naming a film on Haj to Mecca as `Shortcut to Communion with Christ'...! (By the way, some believe that even Jesus is supposed to have visited the Mela in his "missing years".)
In fact, Hindus go much beyond mere 'tolerance', they believe that all religions are valid albeit different paths to one true God. And this has been sublimely emphasized, along with the continuous stress on the need for universal peace, in the additional conversations with the 5 spiritual teachers. Just don't miss this core appendix.
Also the interview with the film-makers is surely worth watching, they did an unbelievably wonderful job. The production quality is without any major flaw. However, as one reviewer puts it, the host Krishnanand is a "goofy swami"; he often asks silly or avoidable questions to ascetics like "when did you begin asceticism, or what is your age". (The ascetics, in general, do not wish to refer to their former lives.) But he does add color and fun to the story-telling. The directors, in particular, deserve my heart-felt thanks for their sincere job.
Description of Short Cut To Nirvana
This enthralling documentary treks to the heart of the largest gathering of humanity on Earth: the Kumbh Mela. The huge festival has been held in India every 12 years for over two millennia, but is little known in the West?until now. The film spectacularly captures the sheer spiritual bliss, eternal wisdom and candid joy that envelop both the festival?s pilgrims and world-renowned gurus in attendance. SHORTCUT TO NIRVANA also features a special appearance by His Holiness the Dalai Lama.Bestsellers in DVD
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