Tuesday 2 October 2018

Mahatma Gandhi and Hindi Cinema

Mahatma Gandhi is considered a symbol of peace as he chose to start a non-violent movement comprising of various Satyagrahas all over the country during India’s freedom struggle. Today on his birth anniversary I look forward to Gandhi's connection with cinema.
In an interview in Harijan in 1942, he reiterated that he had never been to the cinema, he feels that “cinema films are often bad”. Gandhi had seen only 2 films in his life both while he was convalescing from malaria in Juhu, Mumbai, in 1944. The first was Michael Curtiz’s Mission To Moscow(1943), which he apparently disliked. The other was Vijay Bhatt’s Ram Rajya (1943), a Hindi mythological, more suited to his tastes. A newspaper report described this private screening as a “historical event in Indian cinema”, and said that, in the end, “Mahatmaji seemed quite cheerful”.
You would be surprised to note that the first attempt to make a film on gandhi was when D. W. Griffith was approached by the British government to make an anti-Gandhi film in 1923 (Chapman and Cull 2009: 189 – 90), but this film was never made.There are many footages of Gandhi Ji during the Freedom movement but the first documentary was made by A. K. Chettiar’s 1940 film Mahatma Gandhi, which has footage of Gandhi from 1912 that was shot by many cinematographers.

The first film that comes to our mind on Mahatma Gandhi is the 1982 British-Indian film, Gandhi. Directed by Richard Attenborough, the film features Ben Kingsley in the title role. You would again surprise to note that Pt Jawahar Lal Nehru was interested in a film on Mahatma Gandhi to be made by same Richard Attenborough in 1960s but it couldn't be materialised. later Indira Gandhi agreed for a joint venture with Govt of India.
The film focuses on his early life in South Africa and follows through the era when he took part in the freedom struggle of India until his assassination in 1948. It’s undoubtedly one of the best films on Gandhi.

Before this, a documentary film "Mahatma: Life of Gandhi" was released in 1968. This documentary was released in different versions including a 5-hour long English version as well as a Hindi version of 2 hours and 20 minutes. This black-and-white documentary details the life of Mahatma Gandhi using animation, live photography, and some old stills.

Sardar is a 1993 biopic on the one man titled the “Iron Man of India”. The film is directed by Ketan Mehta and features Paresh Rawal as Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. While the film is not entirely based on Mahatma Gandhi and features the life of Sardar Patel. Anu Kapoor played the role of Gandhi.

In 1996 another film on Gandhi "The Making of Mahatma" is another joint collaboration, this time between India and South Africa, which features the life of Mahatma Gandhi.

Directed by Shyam Benegal, the film focuses on the life of Mahatma Gandhi (played by Rajit Kapoor) during his 21 years stay in South Africa where he actually adapted his non-violent movement against racial discrimination. The film is adapted from the book titled The Apprenticeship of a Mahatma authored by Fatima Meer.

In 2000 Kamal Hasan made a film on Gandhi " Hey Ram". The film focuses on the famous Partition of India and the resultant murder of Mahatma Gandhi by Nathuram Godse.

In 2005 a film called "Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara" was released. Actually, the film focuses on the life of a retired Hindi Professor who believes that he killed Mahatma Gandhi following an incident that happened in his childhood. The role of the professor was played by Anupam Kher.

In 2006 a film Lage Raho Munna Bhai released. In this film, Munna Bhai’s character starts seeing Mahatma Gandhi’s spirit that guides him to the path of non-violence and peace. The film became popular because of Gandhigiri.

Gandhi, My Father is a 2007 Indian biographical drama film by Feroz Abbas Khan (not to be confused with actor Feroz Khan). It was produced by Bollywood actor Anil Kapoor,The film explores the troubled relationship between Mahatma Gandhi and his son Harilal Gandhi. Darshan Jariwala played the role of Gandhi.

In 2011 a multilingual film called Gandhi To Hitler released.The film features Raghubir Yadav as Adolf Hitler, whereas Avijit Dutt plays a minor role in the film as Mohandas Gandhi. The film is based on “The Downfall” letters penned by Mahatma Gandhi addressed to Hitler.