Title: Cult of Fear: Asaram Bapu
Director: Naman Govil
Cast: Asaram Bapu
Where: Discovery+
Rating: 2.5 Stars
If the devil truly wears Prada, in India, he sometimes prefers white or saffron robes. The Cult of Fear series attempts to peel back the layers of divinity draped over India’s most infamous godmen, exposing the rot beneath the incense and chants. Unfortunately, while the series’ second instalment focusing on Asaram Bapu brings up a chilling saga of power, manipulation, and abuse, it does so with the finesse of a school textbook—pedantic, bloated, and largely a repetition of what the public domain has already dissected ad nauseam.
The three-part docuseries opens with a grandiloquent question: “Have you ever wondered why the Mahabharat happened?”—a philosophical flourish that soon fizzles into a pedestrian exposé of Asaram’s empire of deception. The first episode, Business of Enlightenment, traces his transformation from a non-entity Asumal Sirumalani Harpalani to the omnipotent Asaram Bapu, a spiritual powerhouse with over 400 ashrams and millions of unquestioning devotees. It touches upon his alleged land grabs, financial exploits, and most damningly, his involvement in the unnatural deaths of two 11-year-old boys whose bodies were discovered near his ashram in 2008. The episode plods through talking heads—former followers, journalists, and legal experts—who detail his rise, his methods of indoctrination, and the eerie loyalty of his devotees.
The second episode, Skeletons in the Closet, builds on the sinister undertones, documenting how the scandals began to unspool—from accusations of sexual assault to allegations of witness tampering. The narrative leans heavily on archival news footage and expert commentary, but its reliance on familiar details dulls the impact. The final episode, People Versus Asaram, takes us through the legal battle that ultimately led to his conviction for raping a minor, sentencing him to two life terms in prison and with a clause ‘imprisoned till his last breath’ —an unprecedented ruling in India’s judicial history.
While the subject matter is undeniably grave, the execution of the docuseries is anything but gripping. The storytelling suffers from an unfortunate mix of verbosity and redundancy, often belabouring points that could have been made succinctly. At three episodes of 45 minutes each, the series feels like it could have been a razor-sharp 90-minute feature instead of an overlong, plodding retread of known facts.
Moreover, this series is burdened by its sense of self-importance. It assembles an impressive lineup of commentators—investigative journalists, social psychologists, police officials, and survivors—yet fails to leverage their insights into fresh revelations. The documentary remains content with reinforcing the well-documented rather than unearthing the revelatory. At its best, it serves as an educational resource for those unfamiliar with Asaram’s case; at its worst, it’s a sluggish procedural that mistakes repetition for emphasis.
Ultimately, this series exposes the darkness of blind faith but falters in engaging its audience. The horror of Asaram’s crimes deserved a far more incisive, taut, and cinematic treatment. Instead, we get a stretched-out documentary that preaches to the already-converted. For those seeking new insights, this may not be the sermon worth attending.
