Aug 4-10  Stoner Comedy Week: I don’t gas reefer anymore, but I love it when people in movies do!

Writer, co-director, co-cinematographer, co-editor, songwriter, stuntman and star Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, who made his debut in this film. Ram Rahim has also released several music albums and other films, which “typically revolve around himself and his teachings. Many of these are based on social issues and the promotion of God’s worship.” At the age of 23, he was selected as the leader of the Dera Sacha Sauda sect by Shah Satnam Sing, which was a surprise.

His life is, well, complicated. Sure, he’s organized drives for blood pressure, diabetes, cholesterol screenings and tree planting that have been recognized by Guinness World Records, as well as the world record for most people sanitizing their hands simultaneously. He’s worked to eradicate forced prostitution.

But as of 2017, the Indian Film & Television Directors’ Association (IFTDA) and the Cine and TV Artists Association (CINTAA) banned Ram Rahim from future work in Indian film and television for “criminality and moral turpitude.” That’s because he was convicted of a 2002 rape in 2017, which led to 200,000 of his followers going wild in the streets. In 2019, he was convicted of the murder of journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati, who was trying to find answers on that same 2002 sexual assault. This comes after years of conflict with Sikh and Hindu groups, including him dressing as their deities and tearing pages from their holy books. And oh yeah, the forced castration of 400 members of his religious group so that they could be closer to God.

This may be the most separate the art from the artist review ever, as a result of reading all this after I watched the movie.

Guruji (Ram Singh) is a spiritual leader who has taken on the job of eradicating drug use and gender issues from society. It also has 1.3 million extras — good luck updating the IMDB — including a musical number that has 125,000 performers lighting thousands of candles.

Reviews were not kind: “It is not possible to be prepared for the sensory assault that is MSG: The Messenger,” “Watch it only if your survival depended on it,” “…excruciatingly awful only for non-believer,s” and “Three hours of torture so painful that you start laughing at yourself.”

Gurunji may be a superhero. Or a super villain. He never drives the same car twice. He has Superman’s flight and strength, but also mind powers, like telepathy, telekinesis and mind electricity, which is a thing. Are those enough powers? He’s like when a kid first rolls up a character in a game like Champions and keeps adding things. He also has a special elixir that can cure any disease. And a talking lion. I’m shocked he didn’t add “I have triples of the Barracuda and the Road Runner.”

He can also rap.

Perhaps his kryptonite is his lack of fashion sense, but his main enemy is a terrifying killing machine named Mike.

Yes, you read that.

Despite my disgust with the auteur’s real life, I also have to say that this guy has millions of followers — that’s how this came out in theaters in Canada — and made several more movies, and despite the fact that this is three hours, you know I’m going to watch the rest of them.

Imagine Neil Breen, if Neil Breen had the power to make men cut their dicks off.

You can watch this on YouTube.