Hare Krishna in Popular Culture - in Movies

In Movies

• Hare Rama Hare Krishna (1971), a Hindi movie which centers around the hippie invasion of Kathmandu, Nepal. The film also features the Hindi hit song "Dum Maro Dum", which includes the chant "Hare Krishna Hare Ram".
• In The Laughing Policeman (1973), after Walter Matthau's character leaves a strip club following his interrogation of the club owner, Hare Krishnas are singing and dancing the mantra and a group member approaches Matthau and is briefly seen conversing with him and presenting him with literature.
• In the John Waters movie Female Trouble (1974), Taffy (Mink Stole) returns home and announces she is joining the "Hare Krishna people", and Dawn (Divine) warns her she will kill her if she does. Later, Dawn performs several crimes including knocking her daughter unconscious with a chair and later killing her for becoming a Hare Krishna.
• In the film Audrey Rose (1977) the entire premise of the film is based upon Hare Krishna philosophy and there are more references to Hare Krishna is this film than any other film made to date.
• In the Cheech & Chong movie Up in Smoke (1978), police detectives attempt to infiltrate a battle of the bands contest dressed in robes taken from a group of Hare Krishnas.
• The hippie-themed Hair (1967) contains the whole Hare Krishna chant as a song, and in the Miloš Forman film Hair (1979), Hare Krishna followers are depicted dancing about at a be-in.
• In Dawn of the Dead (1978), a Hare Krishna zombie is seen throughout several scenes. Its bizarre appearance made it one of the more memorable zombies in the film, and it led to NECA producing an action figure of it in its "Cult Classics" line. The character can also be seen in the 2004 movie remake.
• Hare Krishnas have been on the receiving end of several jokes in ZAZ comedy films including The Kentucky Fried Movie (1977) and Airplane! (1980).
• In The Muppet Movie, Hare Krishna becomes a sort of a running gag, in three places: First, Dom DeLuise is lost in the swamp, runs into Kermit the Frog, and says "You, with the banjo, can you help me? I have lost my sense of direction!" to which Kermit replies, "Oh, uh, have you tried Hare Krishna?" Second, in the El Sleezo Cafe, upon seeing Fozzie's act, Kermit says "this guy's lost." To which the waiter behind him says, "Maybe he should try Hare Krishna." As he walks away Kermit says "Good grief, it's a running gag." Finally, when Kermit and Fozzie stop by the church where the Electric Mayhem is set up, the sign outside says "Lost? Have you tried Rev. Harry Krishna."
• In Roller Boogie (1979), one character throws in the towel and becomes a Hare Krishna to forget disco music and roller skating after learning that the roller boogie contest is going to be canceled.
• In Time After Time (1979), when H. G. Wells travels to the future in his time machine, he encounters a group of Hare Krishna devotees on the steps of the California Academy of Sciences.
• In Airplane! (1980), two Hare Krishna devotees are asked to contribute to "The Church of Religious Consciousness." Their dead-pan reply "We gave at the office."
• In Stripes (1981), John (Bill Murray) and Russell (Harold Ramis) get their hair trimmed, while Ox (John Candy) exits completely bald, holding his cut hair in his hands and looking astonished. Russell jokes around and starts dancing and singing, "Hare Krishna!"
• In Time Bandits (1981), a picture of Jagannath is shown on the boy's bedroom wall. When the characters are running from the "Supreme Being", Jagannath is in front of them. The movie was produced by Terry Gilliam, George Harrison, and Denis O'Brien.
• In The Devil and Max Devlin (1981), a sankirtan van hits and kills the main character. The Hare Krishna devotees jump out of the van, surround the man who is dying, and perform a kirtan while the camera pans over their stricken expressions.
• In Blade Runner (1982), Hare Krishna devotees appear performing sankirtan in a short segment during a street scene.
• In They Call Me Bruce? (1982), Hare Krishna devotees are depicted.
• In The Karate Kid (1984), Daniel claps two sanders together and sings "Hare Krishna".
• In Hannah and Her Sisters (1986), Woody Allen's character considers joining the Hare Krishnas in his search for God.
• In Relentless, stand-up comedian Bill Hicks refers to the Hare Krishna followers as "the fifth largest army in the world".
• In Miami Blues (1990), the lead character (played by Alec Baldwin) breaks the finger of a Hare Krishna in the Miami airport, causing him to go into shock and die, and this leads to the police search for Baldwin's character.
• In Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (1993), there is a scene in which Bonanza Jellybean (Rain Phoenix) says to Sissy Hankshaw (Uma Thurman), "Did you realize that cowgirls have been around for many centuries? Long before America. In ancient India the care of the cattle was always left up to young women they called gopis. Being alone with the cows all the time, the gopis got awfully horny, just like we do here. Every gopi was in love with Krishna, a good-looking young god who played the flute like it was going out of style. When the moon was full, this Krishna would play his flute by a river and call the gopis to him. Then he would multiply himself sixteen thousand times - one for each gopi - and make love to each one the way she most desired. There they were, sixteen thousand gopis balling Krishna on the river bank, and the energy of their merging was so great that it created a huge oneness, a total union of love, and it was God. Wow! Quite a picture, huh?"
• In National Lampoon's Senior Trip (1995), one of the characters, Herbert Jones, becomes a Hare Krishna after graduating high school.
• In Girl, Interrupted (1999), the Hare Krishna movement is briefly mentioned. When asked what her plans are after graduation, Winona Ryder's character responds, "I'm going to join the Krishnas". Her classmate replies, "Hare Krishna? That's interesting, actually."
• In the first of the Final Destination trilogy (2000), in the first scene, the Hare Krishnas are encountered in an airport, foreboding the tragic events that follow.
• A scene in Osmosis Jones (2001) contains a small group of cells chanting Hare Krishna. This is barely noticeable, but present.
• In Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star (2003), one of the characters at the end is shown joining the Hare Krishna movement. They use footage of Srila Prabhupada arriving somewhere, and use an arrow to point to the character as being in the crowd.
• In Jersey Girl (2004), when Maya asks Ollie to lunch, she says, "C'mon, you're ruining my karma level", Ollie responds with "You're trying to get square with Krishna?", to which she replies, "Hare Hare".
• My Summer of Love (2004) features (in 20th-21st minute) the "Hare Krishna Hare Ram" song from Hare Rama Hare Krishna (1971) movie.
• Aaron Naumann, a character in the film Bee Season (2005), becomes a Hare Krishna after rejecting Judaism.
• In Children of Men (2006), someone is heard chanting the Hare Krishna mantra as Kee walks by astonished soldiers and refugees with her baby, the first child born in more than eighteen years.
• In Once (film) (2006), Hare Krishna devotees can be seen very briefly in a street scene near the beginning of the film.
• In Across the Universe (2007), when the song of the same name reaches the Sanskrit phrase "Jai guru deva om", Hare Krishnas walk down a subway train that is passing the train Jude is on.
• In Bhool Bhulaiyaa (2007), an Indian Bollywood film, the song "Bhool Bhulaiyaa" contains lyrics such as "Hare Krishna Hare Ram" portrayed on Akshay Kumar.
• In Religulous (2008), Hare Krishna devotees can be seen very briefly during a montage sequence near the beginning of the film.