Hindus welcome pre-screening of "The Love Guru"

Washington, Mar 21 : Hindus the world over have welcomed Paramount Pictures announcement to pre-screen the Hollywood movie "The Love Guru" for Rajan Zed and other Hindu leaders but remain concerned about the degrading of the institution of gurus.

Prominent Indo-American leader Rajan Zed, who spearheaded this issue, says that guru is a highly revered spiritual teacher,master and preceptor in Hinduism who helps remove the ignorance of the seeker.

The guru-sishya (teacher-disciple) relationship lies at the heart of traditional Hinduism. TheGuru is often associated with the divine. Guru imparts spiritual knowledge completely free from selfish motives.

Thanking Paramount for responding to the pleas of the Hindu community and attempting to reach a resolution, Zed urged moviemakers to be responsive to the concerns of Hindu leaders.

Meanwhile, the Shri Ramayan Pracharini Sabha, has said that the portrayal of Hindus as buffoons is unacceptable.

Rakesh Nagpal, the Sabha chief, further said that while yoga is one of the six orthodox schools of Hindu philosophy, "The Love Guru" parodies it in a repugnant way and names some of the yoga poses as "no shoes, no shirt, no nirvana", "ass, gas and grass", on the movie site. Meanwhile, the Nevada Clergy Association has congratulated Paramount Pictures for respecting the sentiments of the Hindu community by agreeing to arrange the pre-screening of the upcoming movie "The Love Guru" for Rajan Zed and other Hindu leaders. Welcoming the decision of Paramount as a "positive step", Right Reverend Gene Savoy Junior, President of the Association, said in a statement that in India that we must take religion seriously and businesses should give due regard to the feelings of adherents of various faiths.

"The Love Guru"; a comedy starring Mike Myers (of Austin Powers fame, who is also the co-writer and co-producer), Jessica Alba, Justin Timberlake, Ben Kingsley; and directed by Marco Schnabel; is set to release on June 20. "His Karma is huge" is its tagline. In it Myers, an American, raised in an ashram in India, moves back to US as Guru Pitka to seek fame and fortune in the world of self-help and spirituality.

ANI