GANDHI FillmReview

K. S. AMAR
121813901050
BBA(BA)
 INTRODUCTION
Gandhi is a 1982 epic historical drama film based on the
life of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, the leader of India's
nonviolent, non-cooperative independence movement
against the United Kingdom's rule of the country during the
20th century. The film, a British-Indian co-production, was
written by John Briley and produced and directed by
Richard Attenborough. It stars Ben Kingsley in the title
role.
The film covers Gandhi's life from a defining moment in
1893, as he is thrown off a South African train for being in
a whites only compartment, and concludes with his
assassination and funeral in 1948. Although a practicing
Hindu, Gandhi's embracing of other faiths, particularly
Christianity and Islam, is also depicted.
innated for Academy Awards in eleven categories, winning
eight, including Best Picture and Best Director for
Attenborough, Best Actor for Ben Kingsley, and Best
Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen for Briley. The
film was screened retrospectively on 12 August 2016 as the
Opening Film at the Independence Day Film Festival
jointly presented by the Indian Directorate of
Film Festivals and Ministry of Defence, commemorating
70th Indian Independence Day. The screenplay of Gandhi
is available as a published book.
 CAST
WRITTEN BY – JOHN BRILEY
DIRECTED BY- RICHARD ATTENBOROUGH
PRODUCED BY- RICHARD ATTENBOROUGH

BEN KINGSLEY AS MAHATMA GANDHI

ROHINI HATTANGADI AS KASTURBA GANDHI
ROSHAN SETH AS PANDIT JAWAHARLAL NEHRU
VIRENDRA RAZDAN AS MAULANA AZAD
EDWARD FOX AS BRIGADIER GENERAL
REGINALD
DYER
HARSH NAYYAR AS NATHURAM GODSE
ALYQUEE PADAMSEE AS MUHAMMAD ALI
JINNAH SAEE JAFFREY AS SARDAR VALLABHAI
PATEL
Box office
In North America, Gandhi grossed a total of
US$52,767,889. It became the 12th highest-grossing film
of 1982 there. Outside of North America, the film grossed
US$75 million in the rest of the world. It was the year's
third highest-grossing film outside of North America.
In the United Kingdom, the film grossed £22.3 million. It
was the year's highest-grossing film in the United
Kingdom and is one of the top ten highest-grossing
British independent films of all time.
In India, it was one of the highest-grossing films of all-
time (and the highest for a foreign film) during the time
of its release by earning over 100 crore or 1 billion
rupees. At today's exchange rate, that amounts to
US$14.9 million, still making it one of the highest-
grossing imported films in the country. It was shown tax
free in Bombay and Delhi.
PLOT
On 30 January 1948, after an evening prayer,
an elderly Gandhi is helped out for his evening
walk to meet a large number of greeters and
admirers. One visitor, Nathuram Godse, shoots
him point blank in the chest. Gandhi exclaims,
"Oh, God!", and then falls dead.

In 1893, the 23-year-old Gandhi is thrown off a

South African train for being an Indian sitting
in a first-class compartment despite having a
first-class ticket. Realizing the laws are biased
against Indians, he then decides to start a
nonviolent protest campaign for the rights of all
Indians in South Africa. After numerous arrests
and unwelcome international attention, the
government finally relents by recognizing some
rights for Indians.
 The Jallianwala Bagh Tragedy
In 1915, as a result of his victory in South Africa, Gandhi
is invited back to India, where he is now considered
something of a national hero. He is urged to take up the
fight for India's independence, (Swaraj, Quit India) from
the British Empire. Gandhi agrees, and mounts a
nonviolent non-cooperation campaign of unprecedented
scale, coordinating millions of Indians nationwide. There
are some setbacks, such as violence against the protesters
and Gandhi's occasional imprisonment. The 1919
Jallianwala Bagh massacre is also depicted in the film.

Nevertheless, the campaign generates great attention, and

Britain faces intense public pressure. In 1930, Gandhi
protests against the British-imposed salt tax via the
highly symbolic Salt March.
The Dandi March

THE CHAMPARAN SATYAGRAHA

The Champaran peasant movement was launched in
1917-18. Its objective was to create awakening
among the peasants against the European planters.
These planters resorted to illegal and inhuman
methods of indigo cultivation at a cost which by no
canons of justice could be called an adequate
remuneration for the labour done by the peasants.

647 × 404THETEH
 THE SWADESHI MOVEMENT

The Swadeshi movement, part of the

Indian independence movement and the
developing Indian nationalism, was an
economic strategy aimed at removing the
British Empire from power and improving
economic conditions in India by following
the principles of swadeshi which had
some success.
After the Second World War, Britain finally grants
Indian independence. Indians celebrate this victory,
but their troubles are far from over. The country is
subsequently divided by religion. It is decided that the
northwest area and the eastern part of India (current-
day Bangladesh), both places where Muslims are in
the majority, will become a new country called
Pakistan. It is hoped that by encouraging the Muslims
to live in a separate country, violence will abate.
Gandhi is opposed to the idea, and is even willing to
allow Muhammad Ali Jinnah to become the first prime
minister of India, but the Partition of India is carried
out nevertheless. Religious tensions between Hindus
and Muslims erupt into nationwide violence. Horrified,
Gandhi declares a hunger strike, saying he will not
eat until the fighting stops. The fighting does stop
eventually.
Gandhi spends his last days trying to bring about peace
between both nations. He thereby angers many dissidents
on both sides, one of whom ( Godse ) is involved in a
conspiracy to assassinate him. Gandhi is cremated and his
ashes are scattered on the holy Ganga . As this happens,
viewers hear Gandhi in another voiceover from earlier in
the film.
 Ben Kingsley as Mahatma Gandhi

Rohini Hattangadi as Kasturba Gandhi

\
 Alyque Padamsee as Roshan Seth as
Muhammad Ali Jinnah Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru

Harsh Nayyar as Edward Fox as Brigadier

Nathuram godse General Reginald Dyer

Directed and Produced by RICHARD ATTENBOROUGH

Critically comment
This film tells the life of Gandhi, a highly intelligent
lawyer of British origin, which joins the Indian
independence cause and plays a key role in the
independence of India, after decades under British
rule. Directed by Richard Attenborough, it has a
screenplay by John Briley and stars Ben Kingsley in
the lead role.

The film is quite honest in the picture that makes of

the life and struggle of Mahatma Gandhi, father of
modern India. He is portrayed as an idealistic,
utopian, combative and determined to achieving his
objectives in a way that he considers appropriate,
without resorting to expedients that he knows are
not right. An icon of passive resistance and
nonviolence, Gandhi is played brilliantly by Ben
Kingsley, who managed to live up to the role, giving
the character a great moral force. The film
catapulted him to stardom in all fairness, after a
great character reconstruction work (physical,
mental and psychological) along several stages of
his life.