Members of the untouchables, also known as Dalits, are at the bottom rung on the outskirts of the Hindu caste system. It’s an oppressed class, seen as impure, destined for a life in the lowest stratum of society. But not for P. K. Mahanandia. The Cycle of Love follows Mahanandia’s remarkable journey from India to Sweden to reunite with the woman he loves, breaking free from the destiny society assigned to him.
When he was a child, Mahanandia was given an astrological prophecy that predicted his future wife would come from far away. It’s something he always kept in the back of his mind. When he was working as a street artist in Delhi, drawing portraits of passersby, he came face-to-face with that prophecy in the form of a Swedish tourist who checked all the boxes. After a romantic couple of weeks together, she returned home, promising to visit again. But months passed, and she never arrived. That’s when Mahanandia took matters into his own hands, refusing to wait for his fate to be fulfilled.
Too poor for a plane ticket and perhaps a bit geographically challenged, he bought a bike and decided to cycle to Sweden to find her. With no map and just $80 in his pocket, he set off. It’s a premise that seems destined for failure. But strangers began to open up to him along the journey, which helped propel him both materially in the form of plane or train tickets and mentally as well. His loneliness was quelled by the kindness of the people around him. Through snow, desert, and all the doubts flooding in, he persevered for the entirety of the 6,000-mile trek.
P.K. Mahanandia rides his bicycle through a crowded Delhi street in The Cycle of Love.
“…follows Mahanandia’s remarkable journey from India to Sweden to reunite with the woman he loves…”
The film uses a mix of reenactment and interviews with both Mahanandia and his mysterious Swedish crush, Lotta von Schedvin, who we learn more and more about as the film progresses. The cinematic recreations of Mahanandia’s story are a callback to simpler times, filled with warmth and nostalgia. Faces weren’t buried in phones, but instead looked up at all of life’s possibilities. Deep connections formed through conversations on the street, around campfires, and on trains, helping craft new perspectives. Director Orlando von Einsiedel uses actors to portray P.K. and Lotta, but everyone else is a real person. He drops everyday people into the reenactments and lets them improvise, telling their real stories of love, loss, and connection interwoven with the love story at the center of the film. It broadens the scope of the entire project. This isn’t just one story about one couple; it’s a story about the human condition and the courage it takes to live the life you want.
Mahanandia is the perfect documentary subject — a man so proud of his story, he’ll tell it to anyone who will listen. He’s wildly charismatic, and it’s easy to hang on his every word. You’re never quite sure how his journey will end, but you can’t help but root for the guy. It’s not easy to redefine oneself, but Mahanandia shows us it’s possible against all odds. Is it fate? Or is it just a refusal to accept the hand you’ve been dealt? His destiny is not written in the stars; it’s in the courage and fearlessness he demonstrated at every part of his trip. It’s a small price to pay for him to grasp the life he knew he deserved.
"…Mahanandia is the perfect documentary subject..."
