Namaslay, 2026
Written and Directed by Rish Arhant-Sudhir, Kanish Arhant-Sudhir.
Starring Kiru Srikanth, Angela Sant’Albano, Christina Moore, Alicia Mitchell-Mangual, Usha Krishnan.
SYNOPSIS:
After her grandmother passes away, a Tamil American woman joins an upscale LA yoga studio, only to uncover sinister forces at work underneath its serene exterior.
A satirical swipe at Western cultural appropriation of yoga principles and South Asian spiritual and religious teachings is just one of the themes of this enjoyable debut feature from imaginative creative siblings Rish and Kanish Arhant-Sudhir. The clever and visually striking piece of ‘masala cinema’ also genre-hops across horror, family trauma, relocation-to-foreign-climes drama, and deadpan humour.
Gayatri (Kiru Srikanth) is looking for a new direction as she grieves for her grandmother Paati (Usha Krishnan). She finds it when her best friend Judy convinces her to go along with her to an elite yoga class. There she becomes acquainted with the head yoga instructor, Reyna, (Christina Moore) who is keener to have Gayatri on board as a new instructor rather than the California blonde Judy. After a bit of persuasion, both friends are taken on into the class, and they also get to look at the expensive output of the studio store where memorabilia and yoga kits come at vastly inflated prices.
As Gayatri and Judy progress, their relationship becomes strained, mainly because of Reyna’s enthusiasm for Gayatri’s authentic knowledge of yoga fundamentals passed on to her by her departed grandmother. However, the cracks in the relationship start to show on an outing away for newly qualified instructors when Gayatri’s teaching is seen as too faithful to original sources and not dynamic enough. It’s left to Judy to westernise it, bringing it more in line with a wellness activity and less of a spiritual one.
There are also weird hints at untoward activity early on in the film to go with the satire. Reyna’s late partner died from an overdose shortly after finishing his authoritative text that instructors have to be familiar with. And even more alarmingly, practitioners keep going missing without any explanation.
Namaslay is a wild ride through trying to find yourself in a world that doesn’t quite fit right. The dialogue is sharp and on point, and often laugh-out-loud funny. There is also a welcome originality to the whole project. I found myself not knowing what direction it was going to go in next. The mashing up of different styles reminded me of genre-bending films such as Repo Man (1984) as well as the clear influence of South Asian cinema, where musical hallucinogenic dance-offs could be just round the corner. The fact that monstrous deeds and ill intent could also be just around the corner underlines the wealth of surprises in store with Namaslay.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Robert W. Monk
