Hailed as the 'Father of the Nation', Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi is synonymous with the Indian Freedom Struggle. However, what set him apart from revolutionaries of the world was that he was also revered as the messenger of peace - who showed the way to free his country from its oppressors without violence. His message of ahimsa continues to reverberate or get challenged with the changing times - some of it gets reflected in real time, some on reel!
Of Symbols and Songs
Much before Richard Attenborough trained his sights on one of the most influential figures of the 20th century and brought him alive on celluloid with Gandhi, his presence was felt in Indian cinema through symbols (specs, charkha), principles espoused by the heroes (Satyakam) and songs, some of which were odes (Sabarmati Ke Sant Tune Kare Diya Kamal) and some inspired by his famous bhajans (Allah Tero Naam).
Film That Changed the World
1982 will go down in the history of world cinema when the first step was taken to capture Mahatma Gandhi's journey on screen. Gandhi was an ambitious project by Richard Attenborough, who reportedly said that since the day he was handed Louis Fischer's biography of Gandhi by Motilal Kothari in Cannes, he's not thought of anything but to bring the hero alive on the big screen. Since he wanted to capture the hero's humanism, he reportedly kept the character of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose as it would then turn out to be a political film.
Every actor and technician in town remember having tried to be a part of the film. Naseeruddin Shah, for one, auditioned for the role of Gandhi. Names like Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman and Richard Burton were being considered for the title role, which eventually went to Ben Kingsley, who's half Indian and half English. The role of Kasturba went to Rohini Hattangady and catapulted her to big-time fame. Several noted actors were seen making cameos in the film, including Martin Sheen, Candice Bergan, Daniel Day-Lewis, Om Puri, Roshan Seth, Alok Nath, Supriya Pathak, Neena Gupta, Pankaj Kapur, Dr Shreeram Lagoo among others. Cinema since then came to be seen as 'Before Gandhi' and 'After Gandhi', especially for the Indians. Not only did it sweep away 8 Oscars out of 11 nominations, but also changed the way Indians were portrayed in Hollywood, most notably in films like Peter Sellers' The Party.
Many Faces of Mahatma
Many films on the freedom fighter after Gandhi has worked on five trajectory models - his life (Gandhi Se Mahatma Tak/The Making of the Mahatma), history (Savarkar, Bhagat Singh, Bose and Nine Hours To Rama), a flawed hero (Ambedkar and Gandhi My Father), ideological conflict (Sardar, Hey Ram, Gandhi to Hitler/Dear Friend Hitler and Hamne Gandhi Ko Maar Diya) and as a metaphor of non-violence and tolerance (or the lack of it) in the India of today (Lage Raho Munna Bhai and Maine Gandhi Ko Nahi Mara).
Circa 2018
Popular film director Sanjay Gupta was toying with the idea of making a film on the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. Titled Killing Mahatma Gandhi, the filmmaker had reportedly even signed an A-lister actor to play the part of assassin Nathuram Godse. However, he decided to shelve the film as he reportedly felt that the current mood in the nation was not conducive for creativity. While new films are still to be announced on the historical figure, Kangana Ranaut is reportedly all set to release the teaser of her ambitious film, Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi on Gandhi Jayanti. The makers felt that the day was apt for any promotional activity of a film based on another freedom fighter.
In the meantime, the world continues to names-drop Gandhi's name. The latest being Eminem, who has made references to Gandhi in his title track for the upcoming superhero film, Venom starring Tom Hardy.