Deepak Chopra, the world famous author, spiritual leader and founder of the
Chopra Center, has pointed out that Indian films explore reality themes with
depth such as poverty, aging and oppression, but rarely do they take on
spirituality as a topic. Deepak Chopra is planning to change that, one film at a
time. This article is an interview of his son, Gotham by Harish Rao in
Buzzline
Bollywood.
Interview with Gotham Chopra about the Film, “Decoding Chopra”
Sure, the film’s central character is probably one of the most prolific and
recognizable spiritual cultural icons, but the motivation by filmmaker and son
Gotham Chopra refreshingly comes from the perspective of exploring what his
father represents and, beyond that, an honest look into all aspects and facets
of Deepak Chopra the spiritual guru, the father, grandfather and human
being.
I sat down with Gotham Chopra to explore more about the motivations,
experiences, and a frank discussion about all of the curious questions you may
have wanted to ask. I hope you enjoy the article, which I found to be as
refreshing as the subject matter itself.
Harish Rao: Why did you decide now to follow your father and do this
documentary?
Gautam Chopra: For me I never set out to make a spiritual film and the film
attempts to answer (what is spirituality) and my father has become this
spiritual icon and for me it was about pulling that apart and trying to
reconcile this strange spiritual cultural icon he has become to the world and to
the Lady Gagas of the world versus who he is really and what he is interested in
and where he is going and who he is a person I grew up around and my sister grew
up around. So I think spirituality is the state of awareness and for me this
film is an exploration of that. And, in general, Indian cinema is undergoing an
amazing transformation right now, as all the different genre space opens up and
so we are seeing gangster, thriller, romantic comedies which is really moving
away from the traditional song and dance Bollywood scene. So, it’s a really
exciting time to be part of the Indian cinema movement whatever that is.
To view the original source of this post, click
here.
For those of you not as familiar with India and Indian culture, Bollywood is
(just as it seems) the Indian equivalent to Hollywood. Bollywood films, however,
would not be produced in Hollywood as they are often mostly musicals with large,
complicated dance numbers - more like Broadway plays than Hollywood movies. In
India they are very cheap to attend and so they become the entertainment for the
common people. Everyone lives happily ever after. “Decoding Chopra”, however is
not of this genre. I’ll let you judge for yourself what Gotham has captured
after a year of traveling around with his father. Here is the trailer to the film.
