A Guide to Godmen

Godmen as conmen has become a common trope in Indian cinema

- Apeksha Priyadarshini

IN the legendary Hindi film, Guide (1965), Raju (Dev Anand), once Udaipur's most popular tourist guide, undergoes a profound transformation. Clad in saffron robes and delirious from hunger, he sits in the ruins of an old temple, fasting as a godman to end the drought in his village and imagines this inner dialogue with himself:

"Jahan apne aap sar jhuk jaate hain, uss patthar ko bhi bhagwan ka roop maan liya jaata hai Jis jagah ko dekhkar parmaatma ki yaad aaye, wo teerth kehlata hai Aur jis aadmi ke darshan se parmaatma mein bhakti jaage, wo mahaatma kehlaata hai" (The rock, before which the heads bow on their own, is considered god The place which reminds one of god, becomes a site of piligrimage And the man whose sight invokes devotion in god, is considered a godman)

Filled with a deep understanding of people's devotion in the face of hopelessness, these lines shape Raju's unexpected spiritual journey after a life driven by materialistic greed. In the film, the most sought-after tour guide in Udaipur, a polyglot, who shows tourists the sights of the city with a restless passion, transforms into a calm, dispassionate guide for the spiritually lost.

Guide was a rare film that not only interacted with matters of faith and religiosity gently, but also extended its kindness to the portrayal of the godman in the Indian context. However, over the last couple of decades, the lens through which the culture of godmen and their devout following has been seen in Indian cinema, has been far less empathetic.