Bikram: Yogi, Guru, Predator
BIKRAM: YOGI, GURU, PREDATOR - NETFLIXBikram: Yogi, Guru, Predator is the fourth documentary outing from director Eva Orner and an interesting new addition to NETFLIX’s library of documentaries. The documentary covers the rise and fall of Bikram Choudhury, an Indian yogi who came to Los Angeles to start a successful franchise of yoga schools but soon used his influence and wealth to cover up a series of sexual abuse cases from his pupils. The documentary consists of archival footage and interviews from his former students to explain why his brand of yoga became so popular and what his true character was like away from the cameras.
The documentary begins with a series of interviews with former students explaining the appeal of Bikram Yoga, from the life-changing physical intensity to Bikram’s charismatic, lion-like presence during lessons. Bikram is treated as a larger-than-life figure and cult of personality whose yoga practices were popular with many celebrities and influential figures, including Elvis Presley, George Harrison, Robert Downey Jr., and even Richard Nixon. The documentary then shifts to Bikram’s origins as explained from archived interviews with the man himself, with black-and-white footage of India as he explains how he discovered the teachings of Bishnu Charan Ghosh before shifting to coloured footage of America as he explains how teaching yoga to Nixon helped him earn his citizenship. This narrative builds up Bikram as a self-made entrepreneur beloved by his students and exalted in the media.
However, the documentary begins to shift in tone and contents as the interviewees begin to discuss Bikram’s personal faults. The warning signs begin with Bikram exhibiting tendencies that make him more akin to Terence Fletcher than the typical image of a yogi, berating students and pushing their physical limitations. Interviewees then begin to describe the sexual assault they experienced at the hands of Bikram and how the culture of admiration & success in the Bikram Yoga system led to silence. A theme begins to emerge of students having to separate the man from the teacher, letting themselves look past Bikram’s faults so that they could continue to enjoy & profit from his franchise. The story has so many eerie similarities to other stories from the #MeToo movement and serves as an example of how a business culture can allow this kind of manipulation & violence.
The documentary gets into the courtroom drama when the survivors begin to speak up against Bikram, causing a media firestorm and a fierce legal war to get him convicted. This section of the documentary looks to set the story straight with Bikram, from questioning his accomplishments as a visionary and a champion in the field of yoga to discussing his pathological lying & severe delusions. The veil of greatness that was described in the first section of the documentary has been lifted with this information of his true character, and it’s unfortunate to say that justice has not been served to Bikram quite yet.
Bikram: Yogi, Guru, Predator will be a prime example of art from the #MeToo era with its approach to telling the story. The documentary reaches out to the viewers’ empathy to let them be swept up in the hype of Bikram’s “McYoga” empire & the community that surrounds it, but come to realize as the documentary unfolds that the hype only blinded people from the true manipulative & aggressive personality that allowed Bikram to take advantage of so many people. This is a documentary made to convince people who may hide behind the argument of the victims deserve it to get a taste of the mindset that the victims were in, where the promise of community, physical wellness, and profit caused them to stay silent and how much regret there is for letting Bikram get away with it. It deals with the extremely tough topic of separating the art from the artist and hearing the stories of how former students either had to reclaim Bikram’s yoga style or let it go entirely demonstrates how complicated the issue is. Bikram: Yogi, Guru, Predator is not just an effort to discredit a predator who is still on the large, but to the power dynamics that let this abuse happen & stay covered up. It is an upsetting documentary, but it is an example of why these stories need to be told and, more importantly, why they need to be listened to.
BIKRAM: YOGI, GURU, PREDATOR is streaming exclusively on NETFLIX
