The Telugu film Ayyare, which was dogged by allegations of portraying Swami Nithyananda in poor light, was released in Bangalore two weeks after it hit the screens in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh.

Originally released to PBS streaming, the film takes a 90-minute look at Swami Vivekananda’s journey to the U.S., from his famous speech to the 1893 Parliament of the World’s Religions to the ...