Meeting the Beatles in India

Meeting the Beatles in India
Directed byPaul Saltzman
Written byPaul Saltzman
Starring
  • Paul Saltzman
  • Lewis Lapham
  • Jodi Lascar
CinematographyStephen Chandler Whitehead
Edited byAmanda I. Kirpaul
Music by
Release date
  • 2020 (2020)
Running time
82 minutes
Countries
  • Canada
  • India
  • United Kingdom
  • United States
LanguageEnglish

Meeting the Beatles in India is a 2020 documentary film directed by Paul Saltzman. The film recounts Saltzman's week in India during the Beatles' stay in Rishikesh in February 1968, when the band studied Transcendental Meditation with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. The film is introduced by Morgan Freeman, with narration primarily provided by Saltzman.

The documentary features interviews with filmmaker David Lynch, Beatles historian Mark Lewisohn, photographer and former model Pattie Boyd and her sister Jenny Boyd, and Richard A. Cooke III, an American visitor to Rishikesh whose tiger hunt inspired John Lennon's song "The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill". The film also includes appearances by Saltzman's daughter Devyani, whose encouragement led him to develop and revisit the photographs he took during the trip decades later. The films features many of the photos Saltzman took during his stay. As the documentary was not sanctioned by Apple Corps, it does not feature licensed Beatles music or new interviews with the surviving members of the band.

Meeting the Beatles in India had its virtual world premiere on 9 September 2020 via the Gathr Films platform. The film received positive reviews from critics.