5 movies that were influenced by Hinduism

Obvious and hidden references to Hindu symbolism can be found in many movies, including Batman, Superman and Memento. Let’s examine the plots of some movies that are based on Vedic teachings.

1. INCEPTION (2010)

Inception is essentially Indian philosophy re-visited. According to the movie, as one goes deeper and deeper into the Dream Levels, time is stretched, what is 5 minutes in reality turn to an hour in Level 1 and so on, increasing exponentially and successively, as one goes deeper into the Levels. The deeper you go, the further removed your mind is from reality. This concept of Dream level and Dream Time of inception is again similar to The Hindu units of measurement.

Thus, life as we know it is but a dream, generated because our god-self has fallen asleep. We have forgotten our origins. We have come to believe that this dream is real. In this spiritual limbo, we will continue to be born into a life of suffering over and over.

2. STAR WARS SERIES (1999-2003)

There are parallels between Star Wars and the Vedic tradition. The relationship between Yoda and Luke is similar to the traditional guru/disciple relationship, and the instructions Yoda gives are “almost verbatim” from the Bhagavad Gita, the ancient spiritual manual spoken by Lord Krishna to Prince Arjuna before the war of Mahabharata. As the training progresses, Luke learns to control what is called ‘The Force’. Yoda explains that everything is part of the Force, such as the “…the tree, the rock…” etc. This Force is very similar to the Hindu concept of the One or the Universe (in essence Om). In Hinduism it is said that we are all part of the One, just like what Yoda said about the Force. Simply put, it is concluded that Yoda was referring to “the Force” as the Force of the One.

3. INTERSTELLAR (2014)

In the movie Interstellar, the entire plot design was based on the ideal of a universal super-consciousness that transcends space and time and in which all human life is connected. This belief has actually existed for nearly 3000 years and the concept itself originates from the Vedic period. In Interstellar, there is a concept- 1 Hour on Miller planet is equal to 7 Years on Earth. Due to a technical snag, the team is forced to spend 3 hours on that planet resulting in the loss of 23 years on Earth. Which means 10 years old daughter of Hero becomes 33 years old and the hero remains of the same age. In Hindu Mythology, once in the war between Deva and Asura (Gods & Demons), Lord Indra took the help of (Human) king Muchukunda. King Muchukunda helped gods in the war, but the war lasted for 1 year and that was in heaven. After the war was over, when Muchukunda expresses desire to go back to earth to meet his family, Indra tells him that 1 year in Heaven is equal to 360 years on Earth, hence his family & kingdom must have been destroyed by now with the passage of time.

4. MATRIX TRILOGY (1999-2003)

Peter Rader, a Hollywood movie producer claims that the Matrix movie is actually based on yogic principles. It says that this world is an illusion. It’s about Maya – that if we can cut through the illusions and connect with something larger we can do all sorts of things. The hero of the movie gains the capabilities of advanced Yogis who are believed to be able to defy laws of normal reality. Matrix is of that age when machine will reproduce the human being and have total controls of everything. There is a virtual reality program that make them feel alive but in reality they were in a cave where they have a connection of that virtual reality program directly behind of their head. When they go inside the virtual reality program they feel it real because the virtual reality program hide fact that whatever they are doing is not real and they are totally in the control of machine. In Hindu mythology there is also a Virtual Program called ‘Maya‘ made by god to hide himself to all people. So people live in the effect of Maya and think everything is real but in reality everything is virtual.

5. AVATAR (2009)

Well it’s not surprising that James Cameron’s Avatar has hit the all time success as it portrays the picture of a cosmic nature. First of all the word ‘Avatar‘ is Sanskrit, an ancient Indian language, in which much of India’s literature was written. It is closely translated in English as ‘incarnation’. The term, is most widely associated in Hinduism with Lord Vishnu, the deity whose Avatar (incarnations) are often depicted as having blue skin, similar to the Na’vi in Cameron’s Avatar. Just as Hindu gods, particularly Vishnu, become avatars to save the order of the universe, the film’s avatar must descend to avert impending ultimate doom, effected by a rapacious greed that leads to destroying the world of nature and other civilizations.

There are things that we don't usually think of when we think about Indian Cinema, we need to love our country and it's difference in culture.