"On a Quest": A Full-House Film Screening in Rockwell's Powerplant Mall

- April 14, 2015, Tuesday.

- Two weeks ago, I posted an entry about the Indian community's exclusive film screening of "On a Quest" here in the Philippines (click here to read.) I caught the premiere show last night at Rockwell's Power Plant Mall, and the whole theater was jam-packed!! I also realized that it was my first time to be in a theater filled with Indians outside India; it reminded me of the time our delegation group got to watch "Life of Pi" in a local theater in Mumbai in 2012 (click here).

Move poster outside the theater.

- Of course, the highlight of my night was being introduced to Swami Tejomayananda, the current head of the whole Chinmaya Mission. The Chinmaya Mission is a spiritual organization that advocates Advaita Vedanta (i.e. the identity of the Self and the universal spirit as pure consciousness.)

Plenty of people ready to go inside.

- The Chinmaya Mission Philippines brought the movie "On a Quest" to the country for two screenings, the second of which will be this Sunday. (By the way, tickets for Sunday's show are still on sale!! Ticket details below.) Swami Tejomayananda will also grace the second showing on Sunday.

With Swami Tejomayananda, the successor of Swami Chinmayananda.

The VIPs of the night.

- As mentioned in my earlier article, the English-language movie "On a Quest" was about the life of the mission's founder, Swami Chinmayananda, born as Balakrishna Menon. Balak, as he was fondly called, started out as a young freedom fighter, and later became a journalist. Balak was an atheist too, and as one of his special missions in his career, he wanted to expose the sadhus (i.e. religious Hindu holy man) as frauds. For this mission, he headed to the mountains to live in an ashram (i.e. a religious hermitage) and understand the sadhus' lives more. Instead of writing against the sadhus, he gradually shifted his life mission to becoming a holy man himself. He used the lay men's language to make the holy scriptures understandable, and he also had books as "prasad," or religious offerings distributed to the people. Through this, he was able to gain many followers around the world.

Full-house.

Swami Tejomayananda's opening remarks.

- The film was incredibly done, with a distinctly picturesque use of colors. Also, even though the film had to tackle some philosophical aspects, the film's message was expressed clearly. The scriptwriters were also able to make the plot relevant to the current age, when atheists have become more vocal and more visible in the society. The most surprising thing about the film? All the actors are members of the Chinmaya Mission, and all have acted in a film for the first time; I would not have known if it was not mentioned by the emcee before the film viewing, since the actors did a great job for first-timers. (Here's the trailer again:)

- Personally, I felt that the film was life changing, regardless of the audience members' religious affiliations. The film's main message was if one were to be lost in life, continue walking that path and one will find his way. I think this is significant especially for people like me who are still trying to discover what life has to offer, with all the existential questions that playfully bother the mind daily. I also liked how the film did not force its audience to be religious despite the themes and the premise of the story itself. Instead, it does encourage people to go on their own quests, and fulfill their "dharma" (i.e. righteous path in life) seek their own answers.

Movie poster, again.

-  I strongly recommend this film to anyone who wants to be inspired, who searches for questions and answers in life, and who thirsts for answers regarding spiritualism. Again, the movie is still showing this Sunday, at SM Megamall, Cinema 1, 6pm. Tickets cost 350php (upstairs seats) and 300php (downstairs seats). The movie is around 2 hours long. For ticket reservations, contact Sonaal Nandwani (0917-851-0070) or Nisha Advani (0927-300-6180).