The Ashram

Solid 7...

I was actually pretty sceptical going in...but this was a film that didn't cliché out like I expected it to, to its credit, and I ended up enjoying it. It's a bit melodramatic in places, but it's just the right side of 'not too saccharine-sweet'. On a fairly under-developed topic too, in cinematic terms.

The visuals and soundtrack are a big part of the overall score. The stunning scenery in this film, while only being backdrop, really made me want to go back to the Himalayas. Even getting robbed by the taxi-bike guy was like a rose-tinted Indian tourist promo... albeit one where the moral of the story is either, "don't over-tip the baba" or "don't flash your wad of tourist cash in public"...possibly both. Take note, fellow travellers...

The sound track is great. I actually initially came here just to check whether the final track was Nitin Sawhny or not, but decided it was worth adding a review, since there aren't too many at this point.

It's definitely a romance/fantasy/sci-fi blend, so a bit smooshy overall, but it's nice to see the Buddhists getting a look in with the hollywood treatment, but without the obligatory "kung-fu shenanigans" - for a change.

The first half of the movie was a bit mysterious, it kept me interested but without being thrilled. And from then on it's all going downwards. The acting was sometimes poor even though the actors are known for better. The story is just plain boring at one point, even laughable. All that spiritual crap is too stupid for words. I wonder if people that are into spiritualism will like this movie because it isn't great. The special effects and CGI's could have saved this movie, or at least made it a little bit better, but there it's where it even get worse. It looked like a sixteen year old did it behind his computer on a day he was bored and had nothing else to do. The Ashram is just not a good movie, even not for spiritual people.

Pretty stupid overall and the Guruji looks very much like Osho which tells you a lot about why this film is made. It's unbelievable they got some amazing actors in this and none of them has anything to do. It did keep me intrigued for some time but it gets more and more stupid as it goes on. West doesn't have really any idea what exactly Indian spirituality is and there are a lot of versions that get mixed up here, it's all a scam anyway the least these filmmakers could do was be compatible as these scammers in making you believe in it. The visual effects and editing are the parts that could have actually made an impact in a lot of scenes, alas those are also done very poorly.

Even though naive and predictable at some points, still paints an unique twist on a star crossed lovers, and contributes to the spiritualistic movement.

This movie is deserves no more than 3*. Predictable and entirely boring storyline, awful acting and the special effects look like they were done on windows movie maker...