Zinemaya Blog

Basava Premanand (17 February 1930 04 October 2009) was an eminent skeptic and rationalist from India.He was the founder of Federation of Indian Rationalist Associations (FIRA) and He was also the convener of Indian CSICOP, a skeptic group which is an affiliate of The Committee For Skeptical Inquiry. He was the owner-publisher-editor of the monthly magazine, The Indian Skeptic, which “publishes articles on the scientific investigation of apparently paranormal occurrences with a special emphasis on cases from India”. From 1976 his most famous target was Sathya Sai Baba. BBC described him as India’s leading Guru-buster.

India is renowned for the bizarre feats performed by holy men, who hang themselves on hooks, walk through fire and materialise objects from thin air to demonstrate their divine status. Guru Busters shows how these apparently magical acts can be performed by ordinary people and are no more than trickery.
Mystery Hunters goes on the road with India’s Rationalists, who are campaigning to rid their country of superstition and witchcraft.
The campaigners’ main targets are the “godmen”, gurus, holy men and holy women who claim to have divine powers. From tropical Kerala to the slums of Kolkata they confront the godmen and stage public demonstrations to debunk their supernatural claims. They amaze crowds by showing them how they can eat fire, walk through bonfires and stick skewers through their cheeks without feeling pain. A veteran guru buster teaches young men how to levitate, bury themselves alive and haul heavy vehicles with hooks threaded through the skin of their back. Campaigners confront a fraudulent fakir who claims to heal people by baptising them with fire. A healer who offers a magical cure for snakebites takes up a challenge from the Rationalists to prove that his therapy works. In front of a crowd of several thousand people the healer uses spells and incantation to try to save a dog that has been bitten by a cobra. When he fails, he has to make a public declaration promising never to use this treatment again.
Watch the documentary’s trailer here:
Mystery Hunters: Trailer
Sajeev Anthikad was born in Kerala, India, on January 28th. He lives in Thrissur, and owns a audio-visual business enterprise named Mahathma Communications. He can be contacted on his cellphone at 9447035382 or by mail on mahathmacommunication@gmail.com. His office is located in the Korassery House, ZIP code: 680641.

His movie premiered at the International Video Festival of Kerala in 2008. You can watch it online or on TV from here:
Mystery Hunters