An Intimate Glimpse of Guruji FILMMAKERS JAKE AND LINDSEY CLENNELL CAPTURE UNIQUE AND INSPIRING FOOTAGE OF B.K.S IYENGAR—AN ELECTRIFYING TEACHER IN HIS MID-90S—AND SHOW HIS INFLUENCE ON COMMUNITIES AROUND THE GLOBE.
Photo by Lindsey Clennell
By Richard Jonas
T
he movie Jake Clennell is editing is not the one
moved into full-time yoga teaching, the two often returned to
he started shooting. First, the project made a
their dream of making a film about Guruji. Finally they asked
180-degree turnaround from his original
his permission. Mr. Iyengar gave his wholehearted approval—
intention; later, the movie—taking on a life of its
while pointing them in a different direction. So much has been
own—circled around again, ending just where it began.
done about me, he said; why not focus on my students instead? “It wasn’t what I wanted to hear,” Jake concedes, “but knowing
For years, Jake Clennell, director of Sadhaka: The Yoga of B. K. S.
enough about Guruji to pay extremely close attention to what
Iyengar, and his father Lindsey Clennell, senior teacher and the
he says, one did it. And it bore amazing fruit!”
film’s executive producer, contemplated a movie about their shared teacher and guru.
Jake recorded the stories of some of the students who had studied longest with Guruji, now longtime senior teachers
Now these two lives devoted to telling stories on film, two lives
themselves. Over three prolonged stays in India, Jake filmed
devoted to Iyengar Yoga—practice, study and, in Lindsey’s case,
Father Joe Pereira, the Roman Catholic priest, in his centers for
teaching—come together in Sadhaka. More than five years in
recovering addicts. He also visited the orphanage run by Miriam
production, a year in the shooting alone, crafted by two award-
“Mimi” Batliwala, where girls rescued from a Mumbai slum
winning documentary filmmakers, and drawing on
study Iyengar Yoga.
unparalleled access to the originating voices of the method, it is the most incisive, accurate, and comprehensive film view of
These stories highlight the 22-minute Sadhaka preview shown
Guruji and his method we’re likely to see.
at the IYNAUS convention and conference in San Diego last spring. Another 20,000 people have screened the trailer online
The story begins almost 40 years ago when Lindsey Clennell, a
at www.sadhakafilm.com. Initial funding for the film came
young filmmaker with music videos for the Rolling Stones and
from the Clennells and some of their students. Fifty-thousand
Elton John under his belt and a documentary about
dollars in donations to help complete the film have come in
Muhammad Ali in his future, made his first trip to the Iyengar
from 34 countries via an online funding campaign; donor
Yoga Institute in Pune. The following year, he and his wife
names are listed at the Sadhaka website. Another $120,000 is
Bobby returned to India, with five-year-old Jake and his brother
still needed for editing, post-production, and distribution. The
Miles, 10, making their debuts at RIMYI.
target release date is spring 2014.
Through the years, as Jake grew up and shaped a successful
But colorful and moving as it is, the early footage will only make
career as film director and cinematographer, and as Lindsey
up a small part of the completed feature-length documentary.
Fall 2013/Winter 2014 Yoga Samachar
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