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IMAGE: Ben Kingsley as Mahatma Gandhi in Richard Attenborough’s Gandhi.
For Mahatma Gandhi, cinema was a corrupting influence on young minds, a ‘sinful technology’. It is that very medium which has become the message of the Mahatma’s life and philosophy.
From biopics like Richard Attenborough’s Gandhi (1982) or as the unseen force in Lage Raho Munna Bhai, a 2006 film directed by Rajkumar Hirani, his life story and ideas have received myriad treatments.
Since India’s Independence and even before, the Father of the Nation influenced many films, stage shows, and now streamers. Some were based on his life, while others propagated the values he espoused during his lifetime.
Gandhi, whose 155th birth anniversary was observed on Wednesday, October 2, watched just one Hindi film in his life: Vijay Bhatt’s Ram Rajya in the 1940s. The movie was based on the Ramayana, according to the 2020 book Mahatma Gandhi in Cinema by Narendra Kaushik.
‘Gandhi had agreed to see only select reels of the movie for 40 minutes but ended up watching the film for an hour-and-a-half. Film-maker Vijay Bhatt, a fellow Gujarati of Gandhi, later claimed that the Mahatma looked ‘cheerful’ at the end of the show,’ Kaushik wrote in his book.
But Gandhi did not think very highly of cinema as he believed films, both Hindi and foreign as well, promoted immorality and corrupted young minds, he further said in the book.
‘When T Rangachariar, the then chairman of the Cinematograph Committee placed a questionnaire before him to know his views on cinema in 1937, the father of the Indian nation described cinema a “sinful technology”. Gandhi considered cinema a waste of resources and time,’ he said.
IMAGE: Gandhi was eulogised by Hindi poet Kavi Pradeep in the song De Di Hamein Azadi from the film Jagriti. Ratan Kumar sings the song in the film.
Despite Gandhi’s disdain, cinema has loved him unconditionally. From Jagriti in 1954 to Lage Raho Munnabhai in 2006, the list is long.
Gandhi was eulogised by Hindi poet Kavi Pradeep in the song De Di Hamein Azadi Bina Khadag, Bina Dhaal, Sabarmati Ke Sant Tune Kar Diya Kamal (You gave us freedom without using any weapons, o saint of Sabarmati, you are great) from Jagriti.
Other films of the era recall the complex idealism that Gandhi represented.
Dilip Kumar’s 1957 movie Naya Daur dealt with the man versus machine debate.
V Shantaram’s Do Ankhen Barah Haath, released the same year, focuses on the rehabilitation of six criminals by a humane jail warden.
There is an entire genre of films based on chapters from Gandhi’s life with Attenborough’s Gandhi being considered the pinnacle of his depiction in cinema.
While it was a British production, the film had a monumental influence on Indian cinema’s approach to Gandhi’s portrayal. It won Ben Kingsley the Best Actor Oscar trophy.
IMAGE: Sanjay Dutt as Munnabhi and Dilip Prabhavalkar as Gandhi in Lage Raho Munna Bhai.
Many films have chosen to focus on specific aspects of Gandhi’s life story.
The Sanjay Dutt- starrer Lage Raho Munna Bhai popularised the concept of Gandhigiri through its story of a simple-hearted goon who finds guidance in Gandhi’s teachings. He was played by Dilip Prabhavalkar in the movie.
Films like Shyam Benegal’s The Making of the Mahatma in 1996 took a nuanced look at Gandhi’s transformation from a young lawyer in South Africa into the Mahatma.
Starring Rajit Kapoor, the film was based on by Fatima Meer’s book Apprenticeship of a Mahatma.
Another movie, Gandhi, My Father by Feroz Abbas Khan, presented a more intimate portrayal of Gandhi (Darshan Jariwala) the man and focused on his strained relationship with his son Harilal, played by Akshaye Khanna.
The 2007 film made a stark contrast between Gandhi’s public image and his private life, revealing the emotional toll that his mission for independence took on his family.
There were many other films in which Gandhi plays a prominent role — The Legend Of Bhagat Singh, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero, Viceroy’s House and the television show Samvidhaan being some of them.
IMAGE: Kay Kay Menon as a follower and Naseeruddin Shah as Gandhi in Hey Ram..
Meanwhile, Kamal Haasan’s Hey Ram (2000) took a critical view of Gandhi, reflecting on the tumultuous phase of Partition and the communal violence that accompanied it.
The movie, which featured Naseeruddin Shah as Gandhi, explored the disillusionment felt by many of his followers.
In his autobiography And Then One Day, Shah has written about his efforts to bag Kingsley’s role in Attenborough’s movie.
‘I later deducted that Ben had in fact already been cast as Gandhi and this whole process of tom-tomming all of us being tested and sneaking the news to the press in India that I had been chosen was a masquerade conducted to pre-empt objections that inevitably would have arisen if a white actor were announced straightway,’ Shah wrote.
IMAGE: Pratik Gandhi as Gandhi in Hansal Mehta’s Gandhi.
Gandhi will now be seen in two upcoming OTT series — Hansal Mehta’s Gandhi, starring Pratik Gandhi in the title role, and Freedom at Midnight by Nikkhil Advani. Backed by Applause Entertainment, Gandhi is based on historian and Ramachandra Guha’s books Gandhi before India and Gandhi: The Years that Changed the World.
Pratik Gandhi, no relation to the Mahatma, has also essayed the iconic role in Mohan No Masalo, a 2015 biographical one-man play depicting the early life of Gandhi. It is directed by Manoj Shah and written by Ishan Doshi.
IMAGE: Sidhant Gupta as Jawaharlal Nehru, Chirag Vohra as Gandhi and Rajendra Chawla as Vallabhbhai Patel In Freedom at Midnight.
Freedom at Midnight is based on Dominique Lapierre and Larry Collins’ book. It features Chirag Vohra as Gandhi, alongside Sidhant Gupta as Jawaharlal Nehru and Rajendra Chawla as Vallabhbhai Patel.
According to the makers, Freedom at Midnight is an epic political thriller drama that highlights ‘several incidents from the year of India’s Independence and interconnected stories about crucial events and personalities who played a significant role in writing the country’s history as we know today’.
Gandhi Talks, a silent film starring Vijay Sethupathi, Aditi Rao Hydari and Arvind Swami, is also in the works.
