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"India had been in the Godman business longer and continues to produce more of them than any other country in the world", avers the famous publicist, Khushwant Singh. If this is indeed so, one expects this phenomenon to have captured the imagination of writers and film-makers alike. We will be setting out on our explorative journey by reading R. K. Narayan's well-known novel, The Guide (1958). On establishing the parameters of literary treatment of this topic, we will turn to related films, starting with Hindi cinema's adaptation of this novel to its popular screen, as Guide (1965). Early in 2003, a joint production (UK, France, US) launched The Guru, a film that took a good look from the outside at this phenomenon. More recent Hindi films have still not tired of this topic, even if their perspectives range from highly critical, as in PK (2014), to that of a self-proclaimed Godman starring in his own film, Messenger of God (MSG, 2015). |
