So, by now we’ve all heard about the fuss over the Love Guru, the new Mike Myers films that some Hindus claim is offensive and denigrating to Hindus. The charge has been mostly led by self-professed “acclaimed” Hindu leader Rajan Zed, a Hindu activist in Nevada.

A few Hindu groups thought it was all much ado about nothing. As we reported last week, the Washington-based Hindu American Foundation had taken a wait-and-see approach and after a screening in Minneapolis on Thursday, board members found it “vulgar, crude … and tasteless” but nonetheless few screeners thought it “anti-Hindu or mean-spirited.” And for its part, the U.S. branch on the Hare Krishna movement dismissed the idea of a boycott and said the movie should remind all religious people to “take the time to laugh (even at ourselves) once in a while.”

From all indications, the film has tanked at the box office, and now (of course), Zed is claiming credit.

From his e-mail today: “The boycott call of Hindus against Hollywood movie “The Love Guru” for lampooning Hinduism has been very effective, contributing to its blunt failure at the box office, Rajan Zed, acclaimed Hindu leader, announced here today. Zed, who spearheaded the protest movement against “The Love Guru” starting in March, stated that although various issues contributed to its failure, the boycott was one of the major factors.”

Perhaps he should have just looked at the reviews:

“The Love Guru” is downright antifunny, an experience that makes you wonder if you will ever laugh again.-The New York Times

Myers has made some funny movies, but this film could have been written on toilet walls by callow adolescents. -Roger Ebert

Ninety minutes pass like an eternity.-Rolling Stone

Mike Myers’ new comedy, “The Love Guru,” is a disappointment, but it’s not a disaster, and that’s at least something.-San Francisco Chronicle.