Do you buy it?

If you're paying attention, at the beginning of the film, he's pretty up front that he's putting on this hoax to debunk nonsense he doesn't believe in. It's very clear that he's starting out to demonstrate two things:

1. The vast majority of spirtual teachers/gurus are con men with no special attachment to or insight to the answers of the mysteries of existence (be that "god" or whatever).

2. That these con men are able to thrive because weak minded, damaged people look to fill a void in their lives by latching onto any semi-plausible teaching that happens to cross their path and lack the ability to discern whether it has merit.

The film would have you believe that Vikram found a genuine connection with the followers of Kumare. He doesn't quite go so far as to say he believed that something beyond the apparent (i.e. the spirit of god or the transcendant) actually flowed through his fictional character to present itself and its epistemological truth. But he insinuates that the overall experience held a valuable teaching for these "students".

That's a clear shift in attitude, if you accept his explanation.

But do you?

At the moment of "The Unveiling", he chickens out. He says he felt such a deep connection with these people that he couldn't bring himself to do it. For THEIR sake, he couldn't shatter their illusion.

But was it that he really didn't want to feel the connection of their fists with his face, thus shattering his jaw?

Of course, he ends up holding this more elaborate second event where he confesses the "truth", couched in a lot of soft language that this process was a grander scheme to teach a deeper lesson about happiness and teaching lying within themselves.

What do you think? A copout? Or was it real?

I think he would have had to have been incredibly short sighted if he didn't realize this farce would lead to people opening up in very personal ways, as they ended up doing, and in learning of their various pains he would naturally feel sympathy for them. In the end, though, is it just that he feels pity for their misguidedness in placing faith in him (which just as easily could have gone to the next con man coming odwn the pike)?

The documentary ends up championing the students and their "transformations"/ life improvements. But I can't say for sure that isn't a coward who set out to make fun of weak people covering up and making up to avoid threats and violence were he to end the whole thing laughing and pointing at them.

*no animals were harmed in the construction of this post