This yoga documentary feels forced, but it’s still decent viewing

Imagine a surfer dude’s update on “The Razor’s Edge,” and you begin to grasp “Enlighten Up,” a contrived but enjoyable documentary about yoga.

Filmmaker Kate Churchill had derived a lot of spiritual as well as physical benefit from yoga, so she wondered how a regular person, who was not necessarily looking for enlightenment, would respond to the practice.

Thus she found Nick Rosen, a 29-year-old New York journalist. He might not be an average person, but he has a healthy combination of open-mindedness and skepticism.

Where the hero of “The Razor’s Edge,” Somerset Maugham’s novel, is a seeker who goes to India searching for the meaning of it all, Rosen is more curious about getting in good shape. Spiritual aid, if it comes, will be an extra.

We see a series of good-­humored episodes in which Rosen samples the techniques of a few New York-area yoga instructors, most of whom emphasize the physical fitness aspects of the practice.

A loopy visit to Hawaii brings Rosen to the compound run by a bearded guru, whose summed-up wisdom cannot be printed here. His muscle-pounding massages look almost as blunt.

By far the most fascinating section is Rosen’s journey to India, to learn from the big-ticket gurus. And this is the part that reminds you that some renowned wise men really are wise men (and that some of their wisdom is simple common sense).

It may be that director Churchill really thought Rosen would have a spiritual awakening, and thus give her movie a natural dramatic arc. That would explain why the concept of the film feels so forced, and why her interviews with Rosen sound like they’re trying to draw him toward a conclusion he doesn’t really feel. Ultimately, she allows his personality to be what it is, which is the only way the film could stay honest.

One nagging omission: How did Rosen afford to live in India for a few months? Such a sojourn is beyond the resources of most people, and it would be nice to know how this was worked out.