'Ashram in Poona" (1979/1981) is feral and crazy. Its for sure worth watching for anyone who has seen 'Wild Wild Country' (2018). And for anyone here but hasn't seen WWC yet you can watch this before or after the series and this will still shock you the same way.
This German documentary focuses on Osho's (aka the Bhagwan) Ashram in Poona, India (now called Pune). This is in the late 1970s before Osho and his community left for Oregon. And it is probably Osho's original intent before things quickly and uncontrollably grew in Oregon, United States.
This documentary is filmed with little guidance as most of the film is just documenting what takes place in the Ashram such as the meditation sessions which consist of spiritual guidance, intense emotional release, fighting, and dancing to Western pop music. There are also excerpts from Osho's lectures and interviews in German. You also get to see how the Rajneesh community functioned even in its early stages. Pretty remarkable stuff.
Although this film is hard to find and I had to watch in rather poor quality on Vimeo, I can definitely see how people in America were freaked out when they saw this and knew they were moving next door to them. It may not be the most comprehensive documentary but its primal and honestly so interesting its hard to look away.
Its worth watching, no matter how poor quality you find it in!
