Austin Powers now a self-help ‘guru’
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- March
- 19
Paramount Pictures has apparently agreed to screen an upcoming comedy, The Love Guru, for Hindu leaders who fear that the Mike Myers vehicle will make light of their faith.
According to the Indo-Asian News Service, the movie, set to come out June 20, is about “an American raised in an Indian ashram who returns home as a saffron-robed, hirsute, self-help guru named Pitka with a knack for solving celebrities’ romantic problems.”
The movie also stars Jessica Alba, Ben Kingsley and pop singer Justin Timberlake.
Rajan Zed, a prominent Hindu leader from Nevada who gave the invocation before the U.S. Senate one day last year, first expressed concern that the movie was lampooning Hinduism.
A statement from Zed included this:
Jessica Rovins, Senior Vice President National Publicity of Paramount Pictures, in a telephonic conversation with Zed, who is president of Universal Society of Hinduism, said that “The Love Guru” is a comedy and the purpose is to entertain and we are not making this movie to offend anybody.Rovins said that after consultations with various people involved with the film, including Mike Myers (the star, co-producer and co-writer), Paramount would issue a statement on Zed’s concerns about the film.
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, March 19th, 2008 at 11:45 am by Gary Stern.
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The world of religion, we don't have to tell you, is vast. The purpose of this blog is for Stern to note, flag and comment on some of the more interesting religious developments on the scene – weighty and quirky, somber and laughable, far away and just down the road. He won't interpret Scripture, take sides in conflicts or judge anyone. But he will take advantage of the journalist's license to observe.
