Bikram: Yogi, Guru, Predator (Eva Orner, 2019): USA

Reviewed by Diego Riker. Viewed at the AFI Fest 2019.

This film is a very well directed documentary that had me very invested in the story of this yoga master. Upon watching the film, I was shocked that I had never heard of Bikram Yoga because of how big it got in the United States in the past couple of years. The documentary is structured very well and touches on every key development in this yoga tycoons career.

Through the use of archived footage and pictures, the story is explained very well and in depth. The film begins showing Bikram as a young yogi entering into the industry, using photos and videos, along with archived audio recording of how he was brought up and introduced to yoga. He was always very confident in his yoga and believed that his practice could solve all problems one was having. As more people began to trust his practices, Bikram Yoga became larger and larger until it was the most popular yoga in the world. From presidents to celebrities, everyone wanted a piece of Bikram Yoga. Then came the controversies for Bikram, as multiple women stepped forward and accused Bikram of rape and sexual assault. It seemed as if the popularity of Bikram Yoga would soon be coming to and end.

The documentary incorporates many interviews with the men and women that were close to Bikram, and it seemed almost as though they viewed him as a God because of his talent in his practice. As elaborated in the film, Bikram is a man that believes that he is always right, and it was very interesting to see his side of the story on many of his controversies.

The film ends with some fast facts about what Bikram is doing now after all of the cases against him and we learn that although he has fled the country, he is still finding success in his teacher trainings around the world and that Bikram Yoga is far from dead. This really shocked me because you would think that after all of these accusals, less people would want to put themselves at risk for something similar to happen to them.

I also thought that having a female director made this film that much more special because of how deeply the story relates with gender and women. Overall, this documentary was very well done and I applaud the director for all the work she put in to make this story into a visual masterpiece.