Temple of Doom: Saturday Night Live Revives Mola Ram, the Evil High-priest Who Tore Out Hearts of His Victims in the 1984 Film
- I’m not going to even go into detail what the backlash would be if SNL did a sketch that poked fun of other creator Gods from other faiths that aren’t as forgiving as us Hindus are.
In 1982, two years before I was born, Hollywood film director Steven Spielberg and filmmaker George Lucas met at Skywalker Ranch in California for four days to discuss the storyline for Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. This film would be written placing the protagonist in a demonic temple in India tasked with recovering the Sankara (pronounced shan-kara) stones from deep within a cave filled with kidnapped child miners.
Indiana Jones, an archaeologist and grave robbing antihero played by Harrison Ford, was instantly relatable to audiences in this second film of a trilogy because of his physical appearance, natural charm, and portraying a character that George Lucas hoped would be a role model who is “honest and true and trusting.”
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, the 1984 sequel to 1981’s highest grossing movie Raiders of the Lost Ark, would be the “Empire Strikes Back” of the Indiana Jones trilogy, meaning it would be darker in tone than its predecessor. This translated to Spielberg and Lucas inserting concepts into the film revolving around child slavery, black magic, and human sacrifice, all centered under the umbrella of the Hindu faith. Accuracy? Remember, this is Hollywood, not Bollywood.
Fast forward to 2025, and on Saturday, March 8th the NBC sketch comedy show, Saturday Night Live, better known by its acronym SNL, performed a skit titled “Birthday at Friendly’s.” This skit, which starts off with four friends spending some good time out at a Friendly’s restaurant quickly moves into dark and demonic territory when one of them lies to their server that their friend is celebrating her 50th birthday when in fact she isn’t. After pausing when asked to “swear” that it’s her birthday, a barrage of Friendly’s staff enter, two of them holding a live snake, to summon evil Gods of various faiths. A group of servers featuring musician and actress Lady Gaga summon the demoness Lamashtu, forcing the lying birthday diner to drink the “blood of Lamashtu.” In addition to mentioning Pazuzu, another Mesopotamian demon, the skit turns full blown Hindu-phobic when veteran cast member Kenan Thompson summons the character Mola Ram, an evil high-priest who tore out the hearts of his victims and forced his legion to drink blood in the 1984 hit film Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
Then, in a completely confusing segment, two SNL cast members (looking more like the three wise men that visited Jesus than Hindu priests) chant of “Om namah shivey” claiming the lying diner to have betrayed Lamashtu. Finally, in the last segment, the Mola Ram character screams “Kali Ma Shakti De!” before “ripping” out the heart of the liar who is in a human-sized cage. This is particularly insulting because that chant is quite sacred and powerful to the Shakti sect of Hinduism. “Kali Ma Shakti De” is actually a plea to the alter ego of Mother Durga known as Kali Mata, the Goddess in Hinduism who is the ruler of time, that translates to, “Kali Ma, grant me divine feminine energy.” In all seriousness, that’s not a prayer to be passed off as a joke in some sketch comedy skit played by non-Hindus.
I’m not going to even go into detail what the backlash would be if SNL did a sketch that poked fun of other creator Gods from other faiths that aren’t as forgiving as us Hindus are. I think we can name a few people in our minds who have suffered in the rush to criticize or poke fun of another’s faith. And here we are in 2025 with a sketch comedy show that really went all in to make fun of Hinduism at the expense of losing absolutely nothing.
As a co-founder of Sadhana, a liberal progressive Hindu group that engages in environmental justice work in Queens, New York for the past 14 years, I can attest to the fact that Hindus are often accused of animal sacrifice when a bird or chicken carcass is found along the shores of Jamaica Bay right near the Joseph P. Addabbo bridge in Howard Beach. Recently a trio of caged pigs were found at the Bay by the animal rights group Brucie’s Angels, and without any queries or investigation it was automatically assumed that Hindus were the culprits (they were not). To add irony to injury, a public meeting was held with the National Park Service to discuss the concern from the local community and Sadhana was advised not to attend for fear of attacks by local attendees.
Look, as a Hindu I’ve learned in 41 years of being on this planet that every time I meet a non-Hindu I’m looked down upon as either a pagan, a heretic, or an idolator. We never tell anyone to accept Lord Vishnu as their savior or suffer in eternal hellfire. So, to the cast, crew, and especially the writers of Saturday Night Live, what you all did was set all Hindus back 40 years to the days when we were asked whether or not we eat chilled monkey brains for dessert. Perhaps in your next occult-focused skit perform a parody of American Horror Story, and trust us, Lady Gaga wasn’t too good in that one either.
Rohan Narine is a Hindu storyteller and clean amateur comedian who lives in Queens, NY. He is a co-founder of Sadhana: Coalition of Progressive Hindus.
