Namaskaram Rajamouli garu,
Sharing a few thoughts about the recent comments you made at the Varanasi event and the subsequent criticism you have faced. One video posted by a local politician on Twitter caught my attention. She is in the middle of a homam, chanting, when she suddenly stops the ritual and launches into a rant about your comments on not believing in God. She even warns you that Hanuman will punish you for your words.
No sincere practitioner pauses a sacred ritual to comment on another person’s beliefs or lack of them. A homam demands focus and presence. Turning it into a social media stage for moral policing is misplaced and disrespectful. Irony just died a thousand deaths. She herself is not practising what she espouses. We also have no concept of blasphemy, so the question of Hanuman teaching you a lesson simply does not arise. This kind of superficial understanding reduces our tradition to theatrics. My advice to her would be to consider a career in acting. Who knows, you may even consider her for your next film. 🙂
Rajamouli garu, I saw your documentary and your conversation with Anupama Chopra on Netflix. You spoke clearly about the four paths of Karma, Raja, Bhakti, and Jnana Yogas, and how Karma Yoga is your chosen path. You said that work is God for you, and it shows; your films feel like naivedyam to Bhagwan offered with purity of intent and extraordinary and uncompromising effort.
You also mentioned in this interview that Jnana Yoga has no God. Here I want to gently clarify that it does indeed have a concept of God. It is a subtler concept than a personal God. The progression is to see God as separate (Dwaita); to see the entire jagat as God and yourself as part of it (Vishishtadvaita); and finally to recognise the divinity within you (Advaita) and realise that there is no difference between you and God. The journey ends with the understanding that there is only God.
We share several friends, including the one mentioned on your Wikipedia page as your mentor and guide, the one who shaped your worldview. Coincidentally, he is my dear friend too. In the early 90s, he and I spent countless hours discussing the very worldview that shaped you. So I totally understand where you are coming from.
After Varanasi releases in 2027 and you have some breathing room, I would love to meet and talk about Advaita Vedanta. Given your career trajectory, you will undoubtedly scale global heights with your upcoming films. But for you to one day make films like Matrix or Inception rooted in our own metaphysics, you require a deeper engagement with our philosophy. You can continue to be indifferent to a personal deity! But please do not miss the chance to see the entire universe as divine and also discover the divinity within yourself. I truly believe that cinema will become richer with that vision, and you will become not just a global filmmaker but an all-time global great.
Hari’s Curries
A Buffet of Reflections