Gandhi (film)

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Gandhi
Directed by Richard Attenborough
Produced by Richard Attenborough
Written by John Briley
Starring Ben Kingsley
Rohini Hattangadi
Candice Bergen
Martin Sheen
Roshan Seth
Cinematography Billy Williams
Ronnie Taylor
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release date(s) Flag of India 30 November 1982
Flag of the United Kingdom 3 December 1982
Flag of the United States December 8, 1982
Flag of Australia March 16, 1983
Running time 188 minutes
Language English
Budget $22,000,000
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Gandhi (1982) is a multi-award-winning biopic film about the life of Mahatma Gandhi, who was leader of the nonviolent resistance movement against British colonial rule in India during the first half of the 20th century. The film was directed by Richard Attenborough and stars Ben Kingsley as Gandhi; both won Academy Awards for their work on the film.

It was an international co-production between production companies in India and the UK. The film premiered in New Delhi on November 30, 1982.

Contents

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 encompassed in one telling... least of all Gandhi’s, whose passage through life was so entwined with his nation’s struggle for freedom. There is no way to give each event its allotted weight, to recount the deeds and sacrifices of all the great men and women to whom he and India owe such immense debts. What can be done is to be faithful in spirit to the record of his journey, and to try to find one's way to the heart of the man ... ”

The film begins with Gandhi's assassination and funeral on January 30, 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 of these visitors shoots him point blank in the chest. Gandhi exclaims, "Oh, God!" in the film ("Hé Ram!" historically), and then falls dead. The film then cuts to a huge procession at his massive funeral, which is attended by dignitaries from around the world.

The early life of Gandhi is neither seen nor mentioned. Instead, the story flashes back to a life-changing event: in 1893, Gandhi is thrown off a South African train for being a "coolie" and traveling in a first class compartment (which he paid for). Gandhi realizes that the laws are biased against Indians and decides to start a non-violent protest campaign for the rights of all Indians in South Africa. After numerous arrests and the unwanted attention of the world, the government finally relents by recognizing rights for Indians, though not for the native blacks of South Africa.

After this victory, 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 from Great Britain. Gandhi agrees, and mounts a non-violent 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.

Nevertheless, the campaign generates great attention, and Britain faces intense public pressure. Too weak from World War II to continue enforcing its will in India, Britain finally grants India's independence. Indians celebrate this victory, but their troubles are far from over. Religious tensions between Hindus and Muslims erupt into nation-wide violence. Gandhi declares a hunger strike, saying he will not eat until the fighting stops.

The fighting does stop eventually, but the country is divided. It is decided that the northwest area of India, and eastern part of India (current day Bangladesh), both places where Muslims are in the majority, will become a new country called Pakistan (West and East Pakistan respectively). It is hoped that by encouraging the Muslims to live in a separate country, violence will abate. Gandhi is opposed to the idea, and even wants Mohammed Ali Jinnah to become the first prime minister of India, but the Partition of India is carried out nevertheless.

Gandhi spends his last days trying to bring about peace between both nations, however these actions anger many dissidents on both sides, one of whom finally gets close enough to assassinate him.

Shooting began on 1980-11-26 and ended on 1981-05-10. Approximately 300,000 extras were used in the funeral scene, the most for any film according to Guinness World Records.[1]

During pre-production, there was much speculation as to who would play the role of Gandhi. The choice was Ben Kingsley who is partly of Indian heritage (his birth name is Krishna Bhanji). Casting director for the film was Dolly Thakore, an Indian theatre actress who later went on to be casting director in several British Indian films.

The film is rated PG in the UK for violence, language, and for thematic elements.

Gandhi received eight Academy Awards:

It also received nominations for:

The film also won best picture awards from BAFTA and the National Board of Review as well as six Golden Globes including Best Foreign Film.

This film had been Richard Attenborough's dream project, although two previous attempts at filming had been attempted and failed. In 1952, Gabriel Pascal secured an agreement with the Prime Minister of India (Pandit Nehru) to produce a film of Gandhi's life. However, Pascal died in 1954 before preparations were completed.[citation needed] Later David Lean and Sam Spiegel planned to make a film about Gandhi after completing Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), reportedly with Alec Guinness as Gandhi. Ultimately, the project was abandoned in favour of Lawrence of Arabia (1962).[citation needed]

  1. ^ Arts and media/Movies/Film extras. Guinness World Records. Archived from the original on 2005-11-26. Retrieved on 2007-10-27.
  2. ^ [1]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:
v • d • e
Cinematic depictions of and references to Mahatma Gandhi

1963: Nine Hours to Rama (J. S. Casshyap) · 1982: Gandhi (Ben Kingsley) · 1993: Sardar (Annu Kapoor) · 1996: The Making of the Mahatma (Rajit Kapur) · 1998: Jinnah (Sam Dastor) · 2000: Hey Ram (Naseeruddin Shah) · 2000: Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar (Mohan Gokhale) · 2001: Veer Savarkar (Surendra Rajan) · 2004: Swades · 2005: Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara (himself) · 2005: Mangal Pandey: The Rising (himself) · 2005: Water (Mohan Jhangiani) · 2006: Lage Raho Munna Bhai (Dilip Prabhavalkar) · 2007: Shankar Dada Zindabad (Dilip Prabhavalkar) · 2007: Gandhi, My Father (Darshan Jariwala)
v • d • e
Films directed by Richard Attenborough
Oh! What a Lovely War • Young Winston • A Bridge Too Far • Magic • Gandhi • A Chorus Line • Cry Freedom • Chaplin • Shadowlands • In Love and War • Grey Owl • Closing the Ring
v • d • e
Academy Award for Best Picture: Winners (1981–2000)

1981: Chariots of Fire · 1982: Gandhi · 1983: Terms of Endearment · 1984: Amadeus · 1985: Out of Africa · 1986: Platoon · 1987: The Last Emperor · 1988: Rain Man · 1989: Driving Miss Daisy · 1990: Dances with Wolves · 1991: The Silence of the Lambs · 1992: Unforgiven · 1993: Schindler's List · 1994: Forrest Gump · 1995: Braveheart · 1996: The English Patient · 1997: Titanic · 1998: Shakespeare in Love · 1999: American Beauty · 2000: Gladiator

Complete List · Winners (1927–1940) · Winners (1941–1960) · Winners (1961–1980) · Winners (2001– )
v • d • e
Indian Independence Movement
History Gandhi during the Salt March, 1930

Gandhi during the Salt March, 1930

Congress flag of India (1931)

Flag of Azad Hind
Philosophies
and ideologies
Events and
movements
Organisations
Indian leaders
and activists
British Raj
Independence
Awards
Preceded by
Chariots of Fire		 Academy Award for Best Picture
1982		 Succeeded by
Terms of Endearment
Preceded by
Chariots of Fire		 Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film
1982		 Succeeded by
Fanny and Alexander
Preceded by
Chariots of Fire		 BAFTA Award for Best Film
1982		 Succeeded by
Educating Rita
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