Mahatma in Movies

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, more popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, Read More">is undoubtedly one of the most eminent freedom fighters any Indian will recognize with. From early days every child must have acquainted himself with this political figure through the curriculum history textbooks that has liberal footage of Gandhiji. The father of the nation has also hadRead More

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, more popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, is undoubtedly one of the most eminent freedom fighters any Indian will recognize with. From early days every child must have acquainted himself with this political figure through the curriculum history textbooks that has liberal footage of Gandhiji.

The father of the nation has also had a strong association with the movie world. From textual depiction in curriculum chapters to the live portrayal on the Bollywood big screen, Gandhiji has been a source of inspiration for many filmmakers not just in India but also across the globe.

It would be as good to say that any movie on the Indian independence theme or any biography on a real life historical character around the independence era is incomplete without the mention of Gandhiji. So integral was Mahatma Gandhi to Indian independence and thereby to the films on related themes!

Today on Independence Day, Gaurav Malani takes you to a trip articulating all those Bollywood actors who portrayed the character of Gandhiji on the silver screen over the years.

Ben Kingsley in Gandhi (1982) Ironically, Read More">one of the first films on the father of Indian nation was made by a foreign filmmaker. From this very fact one can imagine how intriguing was the story of Gandhiji that a prolific filmmaker as big as Richard Attenborough was fascinated to make a film on his lifeRead More

Ben Kingsley in Gandhi (1982)

Ironically, one of the first films on the father of Indian nation was made by a foreign filmmaker. From this very fact one can imagine how intriguing was the story of Gandhiji that a prolific filmmaker as big as Richard Attenborough was fascinated to make a film on his life history. (For the uninitiated, Attenborough is the same man who played John Hammond in Jurassic Park, the brainchild behind the park).

Ben Kingsley who was a TV star till 1982, made his big screen debut with Gandhi and put in a spell-binding performance in the title role. Despite being of British origin his portrayal of Gandhi fighting against the Britishers in India was so impressive that Kingsley even won the Best Actor Oscar award for the film. His face was an apt choice to remind you of Gandhi.

"It took one remarkable man to defeat the British Empire and free a nation of 350 million people. His goal was freedom for India.
His strategy was peace.
His weakness was his humanity.
Gandhi � His triumph changed the world forever."
This was in short, the theme or in long, the tagline of the film.

The film begins with the assassination of Gandhi and then his huge funeral procession. The movie then flashes back to the young Gandhi (played by Ben Kingsley) in South Africa where he fights against the injustice on the Indians and subsequently turns to the non-violent fight against Britishers in India.

The film also starred notable Indian names like Roshan Seth (as Nehru), Saeed Jaffery (as Sardar Patel), Alyque Padamsee (as Mohammed Ali Jinnah), Rohini Hattangadi (as Kasturba Gandhi), Virendra Razdan (as Maulana Azad) and Om Puri, Amrish Puri, Alok Nath and Neena Gupta among others.

Annu Kapoor in Sardar (1993) Though this film was a historical biography on the life of Sardar Vallahbhai Patel, Read More">Gandhiji too was an integral part of the film. As they say the history of Indian independence is incomplete without the mention of Gandhi. The much-underrated actor Annu Kapoor (popular as the host of the televisionRead More

Annu Kapoor in Sardar (1993)

Though this film was a historical biography on the life of Sardar Vallahbhai Patel, Gandhiji too was an integral part of the film. As they say the history of Indian independence is incomplete without the mention of Gandhi.

The much-underrated actor Annu Kapoor (popular as the host of the television game show Antakshari) played Gandhi in the film and with remarkable �lan. In fact Gandhiji influenced Sardar Patel so much that he gave up his practice to join Gandhiji's civil disobedience and non-cooperative movements and functioned as his able lieutenant all through the Independence movement.

The current comedy-king Paresh Rawal played the title role of Sardar, which is one of his career best performances. The film also starred Benjamin Gilani (as Jawaharlal Nehru), Sri Vallabh Vyas (as Mohamad Ali Jinnah) and Tom Alter (as Lord Mountbatten). Ketan Mehta who is now more known as the director of Aamir Khan�s Mangal Pandey, directed this film.

Mohan Gokhale in Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar (2000) This was one of the first films to show Gandhiji in a not very positive light. Basically a biography on Babasaheb Ambedkar, the film carried a complete different outlook on Gandhiji. The late Mohan Gokhale played Gandhiji in this film, Read More">which represented Gandhiji more as a member ofRead More

Mohan Gokhale in Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar (2000)

This was one of the first films to show Gandhiji in a not very positive light. Basically a biography on Babasaheb Ambedkar, the film carried a complete different outlook on Gandhiji.

The late Mohan Gokhale played Gandhiji in this film, which represented Gandhiji more as a member of the Indian constitution than a freedom fighter. The verbal conflicts between Gandhiji and Ambedkar were very deftly portrayed in the film. The two had opposing viewpoints on reservation of seats in the assembly. Ambedkar wanted that the scheduled caste be given separate reservation of seats while Gandhiji opined that they should be considered as a part of Hindus.

Director Jabbar Patel had also directed a Marathi film on Babasaheb Ambedkar earlier in 1991. The English version released in 2000, fetched Mamooty the National Award for his title role of Ambedkar.

Rajit Kapoor in The Making of the Mahatma (1996) Shyam Benegal�s take on Gandhiji was different from Richard Attenborough�s Gandhi in the sense that while the latter dealt with Gandhiji�s freedom struggle, Read More">the former highlighted the process of transformation of Gandhi from the man to the Mahatma. The Making of Mahatma was about Gandhi’s earlyRead More

Rajit Kapoor in The Making of the Mahatma (1996)

Shyam Benegal�s take on Gandhiji was different from Richard Attenborough�s Gandhi in the sense that while the latter dealt with Gandhiji�s freedom struggle, the former highlighted the process of transformation of Gandhi from the man to the Mahatma. The Making of Mahatma was about Gandhi's early experiments with truth.

Another underrated actor � Rajit Kapoor played the title role of Mahatma Gandhi in this film and his brilliant performance won him the National Award. The film was made in two versions (English and Hindi) and shot in India and South Africa.

Shyam Benegal had earlier made a documentary film on Jawaharlal Nehru and more recently made another biopic � Netaji: The Last Hero on the life and times of Subhash Chandra Bose.