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Interest in yoga guru Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev rekindled as Will Smith visits India after slap-gate

  • The 64-year-old yoga guru visited the Hollywood star at his home during his 2020 US tour, but was not in India to receive him when Smith arrived
  • Since Smith slapped comedian Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars, he has kept a low profile

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Will Smith and his wife Jada Pinkett-Smith at the Academy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles on March 27. Photo: Reuters
Neeta Lal
Will Smith’s wife Jada Pinkett-Smith has hogged the headlines since her Oscar-winning spouse “smacked the s**t” out of comedian Chris Rock during the 94th Academy Awards ceremony on March 27.

As far as narratives go, she’s been saddled with the dubious honour of triggering Smith’s reaction to Rock’s jibe at her shaved pate, which has since educated the world about alopecia causing hair loss.

Now, there’s a new character that’s emerging in the saga: Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev.

Actor Will Smith (right) with spiritual leader Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev. File photo: Instagram
Actor Will Smith (right) with spiritual leader Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev. File photo: Instagram

Smith, 53, has been lying low since slap-gate. However, rabid followers are hot on his trail; in fact, all the way to a private airport in Mumbai, where he landed last Saturday.

He is ostensibly visiting Sadhguru, the 64-year-old globetrotting yoga guru famous for establishing the Isha Foundation near Coimbatore, in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, where the spiritual leader operates an ashram and a yoga retreat.

Smith’s India visit is his first overseas trip since his slap-giving which – for those who have been instead focused on other major world events – cost him a 10-year ban from attending the awards ceremony, and some lucrative projects under Netflix and Sony.

The actor has also resigned from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, but kept his Best Actor Oscar for his lead role in King Richard (2021).

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