Hindus concerned over usage of 'Karma' & other concepts loosely in Hollywood

“Karma” is becoming highly popular in Hollywood and other entertainment industries.

In 2009 alone, four films and one television series titled “Karma” were made. Starting with J.L. Freer-Hunt directed 1933 “Karma”, 21 films titled “Karma” have been produced. Beginning with 1912 “The Reincarnation of Karma” (about a snake who is said to resume human form every 100 years) to upcoming 2011 “The Karma Coalition”, there are 61 films whose name includes word “Karma” in it, including “Karma Café”, “Instant Karma”, “Karma Police”, “Karma Bitch”, “Karma Cats”, “Karma Baby”, etc.

There are nine people in entertainment industry whose names somehow have “Karma” attached to it and 68 more who have “Karma” as a part of their names. There have been five characters named “Karma” in movies and two whose name included “Karma”. There are 48 entertainment related companies with “Karma” as part of their names.

Hollywood diva Lindsay Lohan (Mean Girls), 23, wrote on social networking service ‘twitter’ sometime back: “i'm all about Karma.. what goes around comes around!”

Hindus have expressed concern over the usage of Hindu terminology loosely in movies and other entertainment industries. Acclaimed Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, said that Hindus welcomed world filmmakers to make films about Hindu subjects but taking Hinduism seriously and respectfully and not reimagining its concepts and symbols just for mercantile greed. “Karma” had definite meaning for devotees and improper usage of such terms was not okay.

Rajan Zed, who is president of Universal Society of Hinduism, further said that “Karma”, the web of cause and effect and the rule of universal causality resulting from action, was first commented in ancient Satapatha Brahmana, and now forms one of the basic principles of Hindu philosophy. The sum total of one’s actions, desires, feelings, and thoughts form one’s Karma, which is a cosmic law of debit and credit for good and evil.

Meanwhile, Bhavna Shinde of Forum for Hindu Awakening also urged filmmakers to be careful when handling Hinduism concepts and terminology and traditions as insensitive handling resulted in plundering serious spiritual convictions and revered symbols and thus tormenting the devotees.

Hinduism is the oldest and third largest religion of the world with about one billion adherents and moksh (liberation) is its ultimate goal.

eve of Holi, a festival of colours that heralds the coming of spring in India. Dev and Meera plan a get-together with a few close friends and relatives at their place. The invitees are: Javed (Armin Amero) a flamboyant New York based struggling filmmaker and a friend of Dev and Meera, Jenny (Naomi Campbell), Javed's girl friend, an aspiring actor. Vani (Rati Agnihotri), Meera's elder sister, who has a son Vikram (Chandan), a teenager, who is unlike his peers, thanks to his over protective mother. And Shekhar (Suresh Oberoi), Vani's husband, who has almost no ambitions, and consequently, no success. Then there is Sujata (Suchitra Krishnamurthy), a typical Indian housewife, who is wed to an American born Indian Nimish (Shauvik) - a doctor by profession. Nimish believes excessively in his gender superiority. Preeti (Deepal Shaw) is Sujata's younger sister - a complete party animal, a rich spoilt new age girl. There is also Megan (Drena De Niro), a Tarot card reader, a friend and well wisher of Dev and Meera. Act - 2: A party gone wrong, a joy filled evening turns serious when an unexpected, unmentionable incident before the celebrations, triggers tipsy party goers to confess their inner most secrets that have never been revealed. The results are catastrophic as this seemingly harmless game gets out of hand. Act - 3: Will their lives be the same again? Can the morning of Holi bring new promises and new beginnings to old relationships? Find out as this Karmic encounter of cultural confluences comes full cycle.

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