From acclaimed director Jeremy Frindel (One Track Heart: The Story of Krishna Das) comes The Doctor From India, a meditative and immersive portrait of the life and work of Dr. Vasant Lad, the holistic health pioneer who first brought the ancient medical practice of Ayurveda from India to the west in the late 1970s. A Zeitgeist Films release in association with Kino Lorber, the film will have a week-long theatrical release at The Quad in New York starting June 1. Dr. Lad will be making a rare trip to New York City and will make appearances for Q&As after screenings on opening weekend at The Quad. He will also be at a special presentation and talk for the film on Saturday, June 2 at 4:00 p.m. at Symphony Space.

Integrating his gifts as both a healer and a mystic, Dr. Lad has dedicated his life to sharing what is considered the oldest healthcare system on earth in the complex medical landscape of the United States. This is the beautiful and inspiring story of a man who has for decades been quietly at the center of a revolutionary movement to change the way we care for our bodies and our spirits. With an elegant musical score by Rachel Grimes, The Doctor From India features appearances by Deepak Chopra, Robert Svoboda, David Frawley, and Claudia Welch.

Ayurveda is considered by many scholars to be the oldest healing science still in practice. In Sanskrit, Ayurveda translates roughly to “The Science of Life.” Ayurveda is the art of daily living in harmony with the laws of nature. Working through entirely natural means to maintain the health of a healthy person, and to heal the disease of an unhealthy person. Ayurveda is not a passive therapy but rather asks each individual to take responsibility for his or her own health through their diet, relationships and activities, and to take simple actions towards prevention, self-healing and growth towards fulfillment.

Vasant Lad is considered one of the preeminent Ayurvedic practitioners and teachers in the world. In 1984, he founded the Ayurvedic Institute in New Mexico, the first Ayurveda school in the U.S. He has written numerous books, including Ayurveda: The Science of Self Healing considered a classic in the field and one of the most widely read books on Ayurveda. He is currently based in both Albuquerque, New Mexico and Pune, India.

Jeremy Frindel (Director/Producer/Editor) is the founder of Substratum Films, specializing in cinematic portraiture exploring the resilience and majesty of the human spirit. In 2013 Jeremy released his first feature film, One Track Heart: The Story of Krishna Das. Distributed by Zeitgeist Films, the film screened theatrically across the U.S., and won the Best Documentary prize at the Maui, Dharamsala and Gold Coast Film Festivals among others. Jeremy is in post-production now on his next project Spacefox, a feature documentary following the reinvention of Marty Friedman from lead guitarist in Megadeth to one of the most famous TV comedians in Japan. The Doctor From India is his second feature release.

“One of the most exciting things for me in setting off on a new project is the discovery and immersion into a world,” said director Jeremy Frindel. “It was highly intriguing for me to explore the synthesis of deep listening and intuition with medical care. Very quickly it became clear that this would not be a film that focused too heavily on Ayurveda though. What was most exciting to me was the quality of presence that Dr. Lad brought to his patients and students. The way he transformed a room and opened people’s hearts, and the profound healing power within that.”