A satirical, grisly horror comedy concerning the state of Yoga culture in present-day Southern California, Namaslay is the first feature-length film from Rish and Kanish. Billed as an entry in the Masala genre of Bollywood cinema, Namaslay is a hoot. The film centers on the misadventures of Gayatri (Kiru Srikanth). Raised by her grandmother, Gayatri is trained from birth to be a Yoganini. While she doesn’t really want to embrace Hindu culture and tries to express her desire to be an American, the lessons from her grandmother Paati (Usha Krishnaan) will serve her well in today’s masala madness.
Gayatri and her best friend Judy (Angela Sant’Albano) are looking for a new Yoga class. They stumble upon Lena’s (Lauren Blumenfeld) Yoga Light practice. Lena immediately takes a shine to Gayatri and invites her to train to become an instructor. Judy, ever eager, manages to secure herself instructor training as well. Things move along brilliantly, until we learn of the monthly Yoga retreats. Once a month, an aspiring instructor is invited to a Yoga Retreat by the beach. The new instructor never seems to return from this retreat. Also of interest, all the aspiring instructors invited to these retreats are the diverse brown and black students in the class. Before too long, Gayatri is invited to such a retreat. Knowing that Judy would be superbly envious if she also did not get to attend, she convinces Lena to bring her buddy along.
A multi-armed goddess statue looms over a wall of fire in Namaslay.
“Raised by her grandmother, Gayatri is trained from birth to be a Yoganini.”
Namaslay is a charming film up until the yoga retreat. That’s where the weird and creepy horror aspects enter the story. Namaslay is a slow-build kind of film. So I will not be revealing the ultimate shock and awe of what the Yoga retreat actually is. Just know there’s a reason Lena specifically wants the diverse students at these retreats, and it’s quite sordid.
Rish and Kanish have created a hyper-stylized and wild setting for their Masala remix. Sunny Southern California is a little bucolic for the mayhem they have plotted. It’s a tiny bit jarring once the action component of the Masala kicks into high gear. However, as they maintain the stylized conceit of providing title cards for each of the poses of yoga displayed, it works. My personal favorite of these title cards was definitely ‘dead body pose’. There is a gruesome and devious sense of humor which is slowly being eked out of the runtime of Namaslay. I can honestly say, dear reader, while the pace of the film is laconic, it never lost my interest. Namaslay is a damn fine film.
Enjoyers of the masala subgenre will enjoy the characteristic fight choreography blocked as classical Hindu dances. While there are not a lot of dance numbers in Namaslay, it more than makes up for it with this glorious second-act montage of both Judy and Gayatri practicing the various Yoga poses taught by Lena and crew.
Namaslay is a bloody good time. This film and its obsession with all things sanguine is fascinating. Namaslay is riveting in its beauty and will keep you engaged throughout its runtime. Seek out Namaslay if you want to see where the Hindu are taking film now that they make it in America as well.
"…a bloody good time"
