Gandhi (film)

Gandhi is a 1982 biographical film directed by Richard Attenborough about the life of Mahatma Gandhi, a central figure in the Indian independence movement and advocate of nonviolence.

Plot

Gandhi's screenplay is available as a published book. The film opens with a statement from the filmmakers explaining their approach to the problem of filming Gandhi's complex life story:

No man's life can be covered in a narrative. There is no way to give each year its assigned weight, to include each event, every person who helped shape his life. What can be done is to be faithful in spirit to recording and to try to find the way to a man's heart...

The film opens on the day of Gandhi's assassination on January 30, 1948. After an afternoon prayer, an elderly Gandhi is helped on his evening walk to meet a large number of hosts and admirers. One of these visitors, Nathuram Godse, shoots him point blank in the chest. Gandhi exclaims: "Oh, God!" ("Hē Rama" historically), and then drops dead. The film then cuts to a large procession at his funeral, attended by dignitaries from around the world.

The early years of Gandhi's life are not depicted in the film. The story goes back 55 years to show a life-changing event: in 1893, at the age of 24, Gandhi is thrown off a South African train for being an Indian sitting in a first-class compartment despite having a ticket for first class. Realizing the laws are biased against Indians, he decides to start a non-violent protest campaign for the rights of all Indians in South Africa. After numerous arrests and unwanted international attention, the government finally relents by recognizing some rights for the Indians.

After this victory, Gandhi is invited to India, where he considers himself something of a national hero. He was urged to take up the fight for Indian independence, (Swaraj, Quit India) from the British Empire. Gandhi agrees, and mounts a non-violent non-cooperation campaign of unprecedented scale, coordinated by millions of Indians across the country. There are some setbacks, such as violence against protesters and Gandhi's occasional jailing. The Amritsar Massacre is also depicted in the film.

However, the campaign generates a lot of attention, and Britain is facing intense public pressure. After World War II, Great Britain finally grants India independence. The Indians celebrate this win, but their troubles are far from over. Religious tensions between Hindus and Muslims erupt into violence across the country. Horrified, Gandhi declares a hunger strike, saying that he will not eat until the fighting stops.

The fighting stops, but the country is subsequently divided by religion. It was decided that the northwestern part of India and the eastern part of India (now Bangladesh), the two places where Muslims are in the majority, will become a new country called Pakistan. It is hoped that by encouraging Muslims to live in an independent country, violence will decrease. Gandhi is opposed to the idea, including allowing Muhammad Ali Jinnah to become the Prime Minister of India, but the Partition of India goes ahead nonetheless.

Gandhi spends his last days trying to achieve peace between the two nations. He thus irritates many dissidents on both sides, one of whom murders him in a scene at the end of the film that recalls the beginning.

As Godse shoots Gandhi, the film fades to black and Gandhi is heard in a voice, saying, "Oh, God." The public then sees Gandhi's cremation; the film ends with a scene of Gandhi's ashes being scattered in the holy Ganges. As this happens, viewers hear Gandhi in another voice:

When I despair, I remember that throughout history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a while they may seem invincible, but in the end they always fall. Think about it. Always.

As the list of actors winds down, the hymn 'Vaishnava Janato' is played.

Cast

• Ben Kingsley on the role of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi.
• Rohini Hattangadi as Kasturba Gandhi.
• Roshan Seth as Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.
• Saeed Jaffrey as Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.
• Virendra Razdan as Maulana Azad.
• Anang Desai as Acharya Kripalani.
• Candice Bergen as Margaret Bourke-White.
• Edward Fox as General Reginald Dyer.
• Sir John Gielgud as Irwin's Baron.
• Martin Sheen like Vince Walker, a fictional journalist based freely on Webb Miller.
• Richard Griffiths like Collins.
• Geraldine James as Mirabehn (Madeleine Slade).
• Alyque Padamsee as Muhammad Ali Jinnah.
• Amrish Puri like Khan.
• Richard Vernon as Sir Edward Albert Gait, governor of Bihar and Orissa.
• Michael Hordern as Sir George Hodge.
• Shreeram Lagoo as Gopal Krishna Gokhale.
• Terrence Hardiman like Ramsay MacDonald.
• Om Puri like Nahari.
• Bernard Hill as Sergeant Putnam.
• Daniel Day-Lewis like Colin, a young man who insults Gandhi and Andrews.

Production

To make the film possible the director made an immense effort to get to know and understand him not only by reading his biography written by Louis Fischer but also by talking to people who knew him, including Nehru.

For the role of Mahatma K. Gandhi, several actors were initially thought of. Among them were Alec Guinness, Albert Finney, Peter Finch, Tom Courtney, Dirk Bogarde and Anthony Hopkins. They eventually decided that Ben Kingsley was the perfect candidate as he closely resembled Gandhi to the point that many thought he was the ghost of that man.

Filming for the film began on November 26, 1980, and ended on May 10, 1981.

Reception

The film was a clear box office success. Only in the United States there were revenues in the value of US$53,800,000.

Academy Awards