Hollywood filmmaker Cameron’s definition of “avatar” makes Hindus concerned

As director James Cameron defined “avatar” as “an incarnation of one of the Hindu gods taking a flesh form”, Hindus are presuming that he is using some Hinduism concepts and terminology in his upcoming blockbuster “Avatar”, and thus have urged him to be careful when handling Hindu tenets.

In a 2007 interview with Time, James Cameron defined “avatar” as “an incarnation of one of the Hindu gods taking a flesh form”.

Acclaimed Hindu and Indo-American statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, said that “avatar” was one of the central themes of Hinduism and insensitive handling of faith traditions sometimes results in pillaging serious spiritual doctrines and revered symbols and hurting the devotees.

Supporting the concern of Hindus, multifaith Nevada Clergy Association (NCA) has urged Cameron to put a disclaimer in the beginning of the movie explaining that it has no relationship with Hinduism or its concepts/terminology. Bishop Gene Savoy Jr., NCA president, has said that the concerns of Hindu brothers were very genuine and filmmakers should be very careful when handling religious concepts and terminology.

With seasoned and skillful Cameron at the helm, we did not expect any problem, Zed, who is president of Universal Society of Hinduism, said and added that they were just asking for more sensitivity towards faith traditions. If Cameron needed any expertise on Hinduism related issues, he or other Hindu scholars would gladly provide the resources, Zed added.

Rajan Zed explains that “Avatar”, a Sanskrit term, means descent or incarnation. Hinduism is shaped by its traditional belief in the incarnation of Vishnu (the Preserver in Hindu trinity) into ten forms to establish dharma (divine law). Hindus believe that without such intervention, the entire created universe would have gone into decline. Many devotees also regard their respective Gurus as incarnations of the Divine.

Budgeted up to $300 million, futuristic “Avatar”, a digital 3-D science fiction feature film currently under production, is directed and written by Cameron of highest-grossing “Titanic” fame. In it, according to reports, a band of humans, two centuries in the future, are pitted in a heroic battle against a distant planet’s indigenous population. It is due to be released in USA on December 18 next.

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