I can barely stretch far enough to tie my own shoes, so the amount I know about yoga is pretty small. That said, I’ve heard the name “Bikram” before. Bikram Choudhury is the biggest name in yoga, recognized as one of its greatest teachers. But the founder of the peaceful exercise format has a dark side, which is explored in the Netflix documentary Bikram: Yogi, Guru, Predator, and based on that title you probably already know what’s up.
Basically, the doc explores the multiple accusations against Bikram that he’s a sexual predator who brainwashes his students into sexual relationships. It also looks into his arrival here in America and the founding of his hot yoga system that is practiced by millions.
SYNOPSIS: BIKRAM: YOGI, GURU, PREDATOR examines the dramatic rise and fall of the controversial founder of hot yoga, Bikram Choudhury. Arriving in Beverly Hills from Calcutta, India in the early 1970s, Choudhury quickly cultivated a celebrity following and built a global fitness empire that furnished him with extreme wealth. But by the 2010s, as numerous sexual abuse allegations emerged and stories of his aggressive, cult-like training environment surfaced, the lawsuits started to mount and Choudhury’s unorthodox teaching style became front-page news. Directed by Academy Award® winner Eva Orner (Taxi to the Dark Side, Chasing Asylum) and produced by Sarah Anthony (The Price of Free, The Defiant Ones), BIKRAM: YOGI, GURU, PREDATOR, a Netflix original documentary, shines a light on the stories of the women who took him down and explores the contradiction of how this healing discipline could simultaneously help and hurt so many.
Bikram: Yogi, Guru, Predator is directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Eva Orner and hits Netflix on November 20th.
