Bikram: Yogi, Guru, Raubtier

"Bikram: Yogi, Guru, Predator" is an exceptionally well made and well constructed documentary. It's also one that, by the end, will probably also make you very angry for a variety of reasons.

The story is about Bikram Choudhury, a world famous yogi who built a huge financial business empire in the United States in the 1980s until nearly today. The first portion of the film essentially talks about Bikram's history and his style...and his followers talk about him glowingly. The second portion of the film then changes focus--to the sexual harassment and sexual abuse by Bikram. Additionally, his reaction to these allegations and lawsuits follows...and how he essentially got away with it will leave you angry and confused.

Overall, exceptionally well made and a film this is nearly perfect. My only complaints were a few of the interviews seemed ill-suited for the film, as they had no first hand knowledge of Bikram's horrible behaviors. Still, the documentary is compelling and well worth seeing.

To anyone claiming this is one-sided: they can't edit in what you didn't say. Bikram's own interactions with the prosecutor told the story. This man felt he was above everyone and women most of all. His contempt and narcissism is palpable when you see his responses. That said- those attending his classes all silently (some vocally) condoned this abhorrent behavior. You can see how some become natural born cult leaders as there are sheep aplenty.

The fact that anyone still attends this gross predator's yoga workshops is beyond me. Before even hearing the accusations against him, I found Bikram's demeanor and presence to be awkward and unsettling. With the accusations though...? I was interested enough in this documentary to see it through to the end, but I would have liked to have better understood why so many people were captivated by Bikram as a yoga instructor. No one could really explain that. Not someone I'd want to take a single yoga class with let alone be isolated with at teacher training. If you're interested in cults, this documentary will interest you, because essentially he's a cult leader.

While this isn't the most accomplished documentary, it sure is satisfying to see the repulsive fraud Bikram Chaudhury exposed to a wider audience. It disgusts me that this man has got away with his behaviour as long as he has, and its painful to watch these gullible morons continue to throw money at him even after these incredibly worrying allegations. The final shots in this film make you lose faith in humanity, or at least, middle-class westerners.

As others have pointed out, the documentary pretty much declares him guilty from the offset and doesn't take any other angle into account. This is a very one-sided take on the issue and morally it's probably not the right way to go about it, however damning the evidence appears to be.

But even aside from the sexual abuse allegations, this man is a true charlatan. His franchised yoga is a joke and his swollen ego has been massaged for way too long. Watching even a few minutes footage of him around other people is enough to see that he is a delusional narcissist and sociopath. Hopefully this documentary will encourage people to exercise a little more caution when it comes to handing over their money and social identities to phoney gurus with God-complexes.

I very rarely leave a written review here but after reading those bad reviews stating that this documentary is somewhat bias and giving a forced perspective, I have to disagree with them. I've watched bad documentaries that left a bad taste but this isn't one of them. The documentary clearly pictured the great advantages of yoga technique and show the charming side of Bikram early in the beginning, but the story just makes it own ways to go downhill until there's no place to defend the man. So it's no fault of the documentary that the man is pictured as evil megalomaniac.