Current project · In production
Śaraṇāgati
The Life of a Surrendered Soul
One man, one instruction, and a journey across oceans.
Śaraṇāgati is a biographical film on the life of His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, the founder-ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). It portrays the extraordinary journey of a man who carried a spiritual message from India to the wider world, while keeping the human journey at the heart of the narrative.
A film with a global intention
The ambition is to take this story to every corner of the world: to reach not only those already familiar with Śrīla Prabhupāda, but also the inquisitive viewer who may be encountering his life for the first time. A viewer can come to the film without prior knowledge, become absorbed in the life and choices of its central character, and leave with a genuine desire to know more about Prabhupāda, his teachings and the tradition he represented.
The story
A disciple keeping a promise for forty years
01
The instruction
Rādhā-kuṇḍa, 1935
A young Abhay Charan De kneels before his spiritual master, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, and receives an instruction he will carry for the rest of his life: if you ever get money, print books, and preach in the English-speaking world.
02
The hidden years
Allahabad · Calcutta · Vṛndāvana
A failing pharmacy business, a family that does not share his fervour, a lonely room in Vṛndāvana. Four decades that the world would call failure, and that quietly prepare him.
03
The Jaladūta
Calcutta to New York, 1965
At seventy, with forty rupees, a trunk of books and no contacts, he sails on a small cargo ship. A storm at sea, two heart attacks in a tiny cabin, and only śaraṇāgati: full surrender.
04
Stranger in a strange land
New York, 1965–66
The restless Lower East Side, and a calm monk chanting under a tree in Tompkins Square Park. He did not find followers; he found the lost.
05
The eternal return
Vṛndāvana, November 1977
The story returns home to Vṛndāvana, and to the truth at its heart: “This mission is not mine. It is my Guru Mahārāja’s.”
Craft and approach
Technology meets siddhānta
Śaraṇāgati is being made through a hybrid AI filmmaking model. This is not technology for technology’s sake. The intention is to combine new creative possibilities with the highest standard of conception, philosophy and siddhānta. The guiding principle remains simple: no compromise in form and no compromise in substance.
Written and directed by Gaura Śakti Dāsa.
The journey ahead
From muhūrta to release
The auspicious commencement, or muhūrta, is planned for 11 October 2026. With an enthusiastic and committed team, the film is being developed toward a global release in August 2027, intended as an offering for Śrīla Prabhupāda’s Vyāsa-pūjā.
- 11 Oct 2026 Muhūrta: the making of the film begins
- 10 Nov 2026 Title teaser released on Govardhana Pūjā
- Nov 2026 – Apr 2027 Production and post-production
- May – Jul 2027 Curated previews
- Aug 2027 Intended global release, on Vyāsa-pūjā
A story of surrender, courage and purpose.