Yoga themed films: Yoga movies of comedy, drama, horror

Yoga’s popularity inevitably created a new film genre beyond stars showing how to do the postures or TV shows with beautiful woman flowing through poses. There are some new films available centering on yoga with undoubtedly more to follow. Some offer insight into a unique experience; other films simply have yoga students or teaches engaging in drama, comedy, or horror to entertain and thrill the viewer.

Yoga Cinema of Comedy, Drama, and Horror

These are entertaining with a modicum of information imparted. There is also some good yoga practiced in brief scenes.

Homeless Yoga is a mini drama of a life falling apart and asks the question, “What would you do?”
A Korean horror film Yoga (Yoga Hakwon, 2009) or Yoga School, directed by Yoon Jae Yeon promises perfect beauty to the already attractive yoga women who enter the school but what happens is a horror they did not expect. There are some eerie yoga moments of practice along with death scenes.
Yoganator by Shivers Films has a sunglasses wearing yoga teacher imparting life’s wisdoms to a class of well performing yogis. He tells them, “We chose stupidity allowing anger and stress into our lives”… then adds “left leg extended back and breath,” as the students complete the pose. Interspersed through the short film are events of violence and response. Yoga as the terminator.

Breathe, a Sattvic Production directed by Nina Williams, Australia, contains some good yoga practice with a fight premise juxtaposing the physical action of being beat up with yoga movement. There is music and action. (This is not the same as the dance film Breathe directed by Trinni Franke.)
BGG Productions’ A Fat Girls guide to Yoga, directed by Taj Paxton and Gregory Colleton is a hilarious film about an overweight participant beginning yoga. This may be piloted into a TV show.
Blonde Compassion – a Yoga Comedy (2009), directed by Catherine Arden, is about a neurotic teacher hoping to turn her students into spiritual lotus flowers. It began onstage but was later filmed.
Yoga Misinfomercial (Mitchell Rose, 2003) is a spoof on why people really do yoga (for sex). He claims to represent the Wankevedic council.
Kung Fu vs. Yoga (1979), directed by Chuan Chen, is martial arts film with a small scene where the hero must accomplish a task stealing a ruby from a yoga master to win his bride. The yoga master is extremely flexible and the fight ensues.

Yoga in the Movies: Popular Films with a Touch of Yoga

Eat Pray Love (2010) came out opportunely at the height of yoga interest. In the film, named after the book by Elizabeth Gilbert, the author visits an Indian ashram and shares her experience there as well as other experiences. Although more independent films and web comedy shorts are appearing with yogic centered themes, an incomplete smattering of recent popular and classic films with a scene representing yoga is offered below:

The Women (2008): A character checks into a yoga nature camp for divorced women.
27 Dresses (2008): where the characters swear through a yoga class and the day planner includes a yoga business card.
Meet the Fockers (2003): The class appears to be yoga but is actually a senior’s sex class.
The Harrad Experiment (1973), which has the students attend a nude yoga class
Cold Blooded (1998): The main character falls in love with a yoga teacher.
Couples’ Retreat (2009) has a hysterical yoga scene with the teacher showing the men some unique positions.
A Thousand Words (2009), with Eddie Murphy, has a scene in yoga class with Eddie’s character doing rap while the class chants.

Inappropriate Yoga Guy has been a YouTube favorite about a flirtatious yoga student chatting up the women pre class and during.

India has prolific film production and assuredly many have movie scenes of yoga and yoga centric movies not listed here. See A Review of Yoga Film Documentaries for movies about yoga. Hopefully others can add to this list.