Film on Ayurvedic doctor to showcase at Santa Barbara International Film Festival

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NEW YORK – “The Doctor From India,” a film about Dr. Vasant Lad, the first Indian American Ayurvedic Doctor in the U.S., will premiere at the 2018 Santa Barbara International Film Festival.

The feature-length documentary from India has been acquired by Zeitgeist Films who will market and release the film theatrically and Kino Lorber who will handle home entertainment, according to Deadline.

The film, directed by Jeremy Frindel, follows the story of Lad’s mission to bring the Ayurveda, the ancient healthcare system of wellness, from India to the United States in the late 1970s.

Along with documenting Lad’s story, the documentary features Indian American author and Ayurvedic practitioner Deepak Chopra and other interviewees talking about Ayurveda.

Before coming to the U.S., Lad was a professor of clinical medicine at the Pune University College of Ayurvedic Medicine for 15 years.

He has a bachelor’s degree in Ayurvedic medicine and surgery from the University of Pune and a master’s degree in Ayurvedic science from Tilak Ayurved Mahavidyalaya.

His academic and practical training include the study of Allopathy (western medicine) and surgery as well as traditional Ayurveda.

In 1984, Lad founded The Ayurvedic Institute in Santa Fe, New Mexico which moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, two years later where he is now the director of the institute.

Lad has written 11 books on Ayurveda as well as hundreds of articles and other writings, his work has been translated into more than 20 languages.