Secrets of Love (2021)

From the producer

The film was made by Osho's disciple Veljibhai Gala. Confirming the story to Divya Marathi, Veljibhai says, "I have been a disciple of Osho for the last 30 years and I wanted to tell his story to the people as soon as possible. After much thought, I thought his story could be told through films. I have listened to many discourses, meditated on what he said. I am aware of every little thing related to him, so I did not have much difficulty in making a film. Osho is the best person of this century and people of this century should know about him," he said.

About Ravi Kishan, Veljibhai says, "In this film, we are going to show three big stages related to Osho, for which three different actors have been taken. The roles are played by Jayesh Kapoor, Vivek Mishra and Ravi Kishan. When Osho Rajneesh went to America, he was poisoned. Ravi Kishan will be seen in that persona. We tested the looks of some actors before signing Ravi, but no one other than Ravi fit in Osho's persona."

The producers were supposed to release the film last year, but Veljibhai says, "We've been working on this film for almost a year and a half. The lockdown wasted almost 7 to 8 months. We were going to release the film in 2020. Most of the shooting is done. And now the film will be released between April and May 2021."

Veljibhai said that due to copyright, he did not mention Osho's name in the title of the film. The film has been shot in cities like Kashi, Gujarat, Goa, Jabalpur and Mumbai.

From Wikipedia for the web series with the same name

”The series is based on events during the life of Osho“

„Secrets of Love is an indian web series streaming on MX Player, which is directed by Ritesh S Kumar and produced by Velji Gala. It is inspired by the events of Osho's life, starring Ravi Kishan as Osho, with Vivek Anand Mishra (young Osho) and Jayesh Kapoor as supporting actors.“

From “Times of India”, article February 23, 2021

„After various documentaries tried to capture the life and beliefs of one of the most controversial, cult figures from India — Acharya Rajneesh, also known as Osho, a Hindi film has jumped on the bandwagon, too. Actor-MP Ravi Kishan will be seen in the lead role as Osho in a movie called Secrets of Love, directed by Ritesh S Kumar. The film is inspired by some of the important events of Rajneesh’s life, his philosophy and journey from being Rajneesh to Osho, global fame, his foundation, differences with the government and more.“

From the website upto18news.com quoted by OshoNews March 6, 2023: „Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], March 2, 2023: Director Ritesh S Kumar’s Hindi film Secrets of Love is ready for release. Starring actors Ravi Kishan, Vivek Anand Mishra and Jayesh Kapoor, the film is based on the life of Acharya Rajneesh (Osho). Based on the life of modern India’s most controversial guru Osho, the film is directed by Ritesh S Kumar and produced by Velji Gala.

The film is inspired by important events in the life of Acharya Rajneesh (Osho). Major events from his childhood to youth are shown in the film. The film depicts his travels in India as well as all over the world. Acharya Rajneesh is a controversial mystic guru and a spiritual teacher throughout his life. He was a fierce critic of religious orthodoxy, due to which he quickly got involved in controversies and controversies and remained controversial till the last moment of his life. Rajneesh was opposed throughout his life by a large section of society as a promiscuous leader and sex guru for the wealthy who were strongly opposed to traditional religion. The journey from Rajneesh to Osho to the global Osho Foundation and differences with the government and significant events in his lifetime made him a global religious guru who defined love and philosophy of life in a new and different way.

Producer Velji Gala said that in ‘Secrets of Love’, viewers will get to see many such incidents in the life of the world’s biggest mystic Guru Rajneesh ji, about which very few people know. The film will be able to reach maximum audience through OTT.

Director Ritesh S Kumar says that making a film on Osho was very challenging, we knew from the beginning that many incidents of his life will be seen by the audience, which are not mentioned anywhere till now. This film is not just limited to his discourses and camps, this film will reveal his greatest philosophy knowledge and his own life.

Produced under the banner of Premal Kranti Films, The Secrets of Love is directed by Ritesh S Kumar, produced by Velji Gala and written by Vishal Chhadwa. The film has been shot at various locations in Gujarat, Mumbai, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.“

Comments by OshoNews March 6, 2023

Comment by Chaitanya Keerti:

„Secrets of Love is a low-budget movie made by an immature sannyasin, thought a certified meditation facilitator, to spread Osho’s vision through a movie. Perhaps he did not want to get in conflict with OIF, so he did not mention Osho in its title, but the movie is about Osho. The trailer of the movie is also very badly done. Some people think that to create news about Osho, something is better than nothing. I don’t agree with this kind of clumsy way to project Osho. Something like this is not better than nothing.“

Comment by Kamlesh Pandey:

„Osho deserves a movie which aesthetically, spiritually and technically does justice to his message. I have seen clips of this film when it was shot… so mediocre, so clumsy, so badly written and performed, I was surprised. How could anyone who apparently loves Osho, do this injustice to Osho? The producer later called me for help but it was too late, he had already shot the film. I told him he should have contacted me at the writing stage. In fact, NIN Live did a whole programme on it.“

Editor’s comment

The attempt to chronicle Osho's life in a major film fails tremendous and must fail. Who would be able capture Osho's distinct charismatic magnetism on screen? It is inconceivable to to act like Osho. Even if the actors are playing really hard, they are completely unable to create an atmosphere that even remotely resembles Osho.

The movie is evidently intended only for Indian viewers. Along with a standard Bollywood 4-minute dance number, there are elements of a love narrative too. This verges on mocking Osho's life.

Since there aren't any scenes with Western „Sannaysins“ throughout, the film turns out to be irrelevant. The movie also shows furious „Sannyasins“ opposing Osho's imprisonment in America. While this may look typical to some watchers, the way it portrays so called „Sannasins“ who have lost their temper is really annoying.

Last but not least, the portrayal of Osho in jail and his injection-induced poisoning is hardly accurate in capturing the covert US administration management of the weapons that caused Osho conscious bodily injury.

Conclusion: Not something to watch!

language: Hindi

released: May 2021

length: 2 h 4 min

credits

director: Ritesh S Kumar

Writing Credits: Vishal Chhadwa,Rahul Kumar Shukla (dialogue writer and screenplay)

cast: Jayesh Kapoor as Osho; Nazre Inayat Khan as Gudiya (Osho's Girlfriend); Ravi Kishan as Ajneesh; Vivek Anand Mishra as Osho (as Vivek Mishra); Siddhant Pandey as Shivam; Heramba Shankar Tripathi as Bhoora