Vikram Gandhi's "Kumaré - The True Story of a False Prophet" - NYTimes.com Faith begins as an experiment and ends as an experience. That quotation from the Anglican priest William Ralph Inge, which begins the documentary "Kumaré: The True Story of a False Prophet," evokes the film's ambiguous exploration of religion, teaching and spiritual leadership. When Vikram Gandhi - the movie's New Jersey-born director, protagonist and narrator - grows a beard and flowing hair and dons Indian robes to make a film in which he poses as a swami, you anticipate a cruel, "Borat"-like stunt. Cynics will expect a nasty chortle when this glib charlatan finally pulls the rug out from under his credulous followers. But the outcome is much more complicated. Disturbed by the yoga craze in the United States, Mr. Gandhi, a self-described first-generation immigrant from a Hindu background, travels to India and discovers that the swamis desperately trying to "outguru" one another are, he says, "just as phony as those I met in America." After returning to the United States, he transforms himself into Sri Kumaré and travels to Phoenix, where he gathers a circle of disciples. Imitating his grandmother's voice, he imparts mystical truisms in halting, broken English. With his soulful brown eyes and soft, androgynous voice, he is a very convincing wise man. Initially, Mr. Gandhi recalls, "I wanted to see how far I could push it." He is shown presiding at one gathering with a picture of himself between portraits of Barack Obama and Osama bin Laden. But his earnest followers, including a death-row lawyer, a recovering cocaine addict and a morbidly obese young woman, are sympathetic, highly stressed Americans who pour out their troubles. As Mr. Gandhi warms to these people, who demonstrate an unalloyed faith in his wisdom, the film becomes a deeper, more problematic exploration of identity and the power of suggestion, and its initially sour taste turns to honey. The meditations, mantras and yoga moves he invents, however bogus, transform lives, as his followers discover their inner gurus and gain a self-mastery. For all his deceptiveness, Mr. Gandhi is not an egomaniacal prankster but a benign teacher whose "mirror" philosophy involves uniting the everyday self with the ideal self. A goal of this practical program of discipline and reflection is to cultivate an inner guru so that you don't need someone like Kumaré. "Kumaré" builds up to the big reveal, in which Mr. Gandhi, with great trepidation, presents himself to his flock as himself, without mystical trappings and speaking in his regular voice. The film's message lies in a paradox expressed early in the film. His impersonation was the biggest lie he's ever told and the greatest truth he's ever experienced. It is a thought worth pondering. Kumaré The True Story of a False Prophet Directed by Vikram Gandhi; director of photography, Kahlil Hudson; edited by Adam Barton and Nathan Russell; music by Alex Kliment, Hisham Bharoocha and Sanjay Khanna; costumes by Maytinee Redding; produced by Bryan Carmel and Brendan Colthurst; released by Kino Lorber Inc. At the IFC Center, 323 Avenue of the Americas, at Third Street, Greenwich Village. Running time: 1 hour 24 minutes.