Wild Wild Country

Oh Netflix, how do you make documentaries so good. This is a 6 part documentary, each an hour long. (I don't know why IMDB says 2 hours, it is not. It is more than 6 hours in total).

Though being an Indian, I had no clue about anything concerned to Rajneesh a.k.a. Osho except a quote or two said by him sent by a friend on Whatsapp, which always pissed me off as I dislike all kinds of god-men. This documentary is not about Osho rather about what happened when he and his team of followers came to a small town, Antelope in Oregon (U.S.A). The stunning amount of video and audio footage used is wonderful. The interviews of people and followers then and their very self, now is what makes the documentary wanted to be watched.

At times I understood the mind of the people who stood against him for reasons concerning their land. Their peace was disturbed by the entry of so many people in red robes. That's scary. But on the other side, I felt the hypocrisy of Americans a tad too much, who welcomed teachings of another brown man from the East 2000 years back and now pray to him daily but had problems with this brown man from the East who was just trying to awaken everyone; this man's followers jumping around happily is not OK but some guy somewhere saying, 'Hallelujah, you are cured' is OK? No one can teach others if they don't teach themselves first. How can you bring calmness and peace in one's life if you yourself don't have it? This documentary sums it up.

You might like him or hate him but you will love this documentary for the stunning number of footage used while making this and the wonderful editing too. Keep an open mind while you watch this and, you should watch this. You will love it.

The last two years I've been absolutely astonished about the sheer quality of docu-series Netflix has been bringing out. "Making a murderer", "Flint town", "The Keepers", to name a few.

But this one was especially on some level really emotional for me. As I myself was raised in a Indian cult. Not this one, but many aspects are almost identical. I am now 27 and I still struggle on a daily base with many things that were taught to me at such a young age. What struck me was how well portrayed this guy was. The almost hypnotically way he could look, and even walk, got people in some sort of a trance. I myself experienced many times where we saw our "Guru" talk, and he had the same aura that also Baghwan has. The other aspect that struck me was them talking about following, but you could feel they actually were all deeply in love with him. A cult leader is not someone you follow, you fall deeply and madly in love with him. This happened to my mother and even after leaving almost 15 years ago, she still can't stop looking to this new love. She never became a stable person again in her life.

The docu itself should be an example to future docu makers. The pacing is nearly perfect. The interviews are well paced, just a few people on different sides, and somehow you all get some sort of attachment to their side of the story. You strongly get the feeling from episode one that nothing is black and white. And that all of these people strongly believed in their cause. There is no one who had the complete truth or did the complete right thing. And Baghwan is equal mysterious in this documentary than in real life. Somehow they don't try to explain the person Baghwan, because you simply cannot explain him. In that way his followers were absolutely right. He is a one of a kind person, and to others he was a con man. For me? He is something in between.

It's great to finally see an in-depth documentary on one of the most bizarre events of the late 20th century. What happened at Rajneeshpuram in the 1980s is so extraordinary it's actually difficult to comprehend. The series is well-presented and thoroughly absorbing.

I was amazed at how much video footage they had from inside the commune- I really had no idea this much material even existed. I was also surprised at how much prime time news coverage the story received. The Way brothers should certainly be commended for how much time and research went into this production.

The major problem with the show, as many others have pointed out, is that it does not tell the whole story. In fact, it doesn't even come close. There are many incredibly disturbing stories about what went on in the commune during this time period, the worst of which involve sexual abuse of children. There is information about this online as well as in published books by former sannyasins and commune members. And while it may not be possible to discern exactly what is true and what isn't, there is enough credible evidence to suggest that some very dark events took place under the watch of Rajneesh and his associates.

The two main interviewees, Phillip Toelkes and Jane Stork, fail to discuss these more serious topics and spend a lot of time marvelling over how great a man Rajneesh was. Toelkes in particular is clearly still obsessed with his former guru, to the point where he cannot stop crying every time he mentions his name. It becomes incredibly tiresome and the amount of airtime he gets in this show is inexcusable.

Sheela, however, is a much more interesting character. By all accounts, she has done some terrible things and is arguably lucky to be a free woman but either way, she is fascinating to watch and listen to- both then and now. The documentary would not have had anywhere near as much impact without her presence.

It's hard to know if the Way brothers produced this show with a slight bias towards Rajneesh and his followers or simply that they looked in the wrong places and only found half the story. Either way, this is a great watch but I would highly recommend doing some of your own research to get a more balanced view of things. Christopher Calder's online articles are a great place to start.

To understand why utopias do not work this provides a fascinating real life example.

A guru who chooses not to speak and allows his followers to take control - Sheela is a brilliant mix of artful aggression and disingenuousness. Her lack of enlightenment by the end is bizarre. The whole purpose of following Osho was supposedly to gain enlightenment. Will the day ever come when she recognises that her need for power created only chaos?

Human nature in all its frailty plays out on film - everyone should see this - and read Animal Farm, which predicted it all decades ago. Slightly overlong which is the only reason it doesn't get 10 stars - but worth staying with as it truly gets weird halfway through.

The amount of information and perspectives covered is unbelievable