Gandhi (1982)

Gandhi (epic movie) – Independence day special

Cast : Ben Kingsley, Rohini Hattangadi, John Gielgud, Martin Sheen, Vikram Seth, Alyque Padamsee

Directed by: Richard Attenborough

Movie analysis: Zulfiqar

            In some private discussions, I have participated with my friends, which were to do with India’s way to independence, I have been sometimes given the opinion that probably Indian non-violent struggle had made our independence to come rather late, by say 20 or 30 years. As years passed, I understood that it is otherwise. The way India waged the non-violent struggle against British raj is probably tougher than the violent way it could have gone for. Gandhiji’s success and his rise to such applaudable prominence are probably due to the restraint he had over the millions of Indians against committing any act of violence during this struggle for freedom. Richard Attenborough’s biopic on our father of the nation captures that main hallmark with a very lucid and accurate depiction of Indian history.

            The movie has the alternate play of pawns between the British rule and Indian rebelliousness, which was inevitably to wind up in the court of Gandhiji. There was this serious challenge to the Britishers of having faced a surprise problem of civil disobedience. They were at quandary to do what next. The incident of Jallianwallah Bagh only made them weaker. And showed their failed dealing with a peaceful crowd, which in no way was a threat to them. More than that, the British government was eaten away by the guilt at the heinous atrocity they committed. They had slowly understood the patience of Indians and the problem they were dealing with. But when Gandhiji went for anti-western clothing by propelling millions of Indians to burn the foreign cloth, British crown could only tentatively watch. However breach of nonviolence from the Indian side gave them teeth to rightfully take the law into their hands. It was at this time that Gandhiji’s strong resolve for his peaceful way of freedom strengthened. He curtailed the programme of burning foreign cloth as there was a violent incident from the side of Indians. He was steadfast to his principles and didn’t in any way was swayed by the top political bigwigs to ignore the slight from the Indian community. He preached his ahimsa by practice rather than by his sayings. This was probably the groundwork for Satyagraha (truth insistence), which took place in 1929. It was a movement to defunct the taxation of British crown on the salt production from Indian shores. The British government was very hesitant in doing anything about this sudden step of civil disobedience. They chose to ignore it at the start as they felt a pinch of salt won’t crumble the British empire. But as the way the movement gathered masses, they couldn’t help but use resistance. In the end, they went against their core code of not arresting Gandhiji. The beauty of Mahatma’s effect was such that while he was still in prison, Indians led and continued their peaceful protest, which prompted the crown to relax their hold on India. Gandhiji had been at the epicenter of Indian freedom struggle ever since he became the leader of INC (Indian national congress) in 1921. He had been a major influence on woman’s rights, untouchability and every way of fighting against the oppressed. He was the spirit of India, which strived for peace before and was also the accelerator of tranquility even after him. One of the sorriest points of his life was that he became a disappointed man after gaining the freedom as he couldn’t bear to see the communal rites, which were the result of the divide of Pakistan and India. But at the end, he was the solution even for extinguishing the flared up issues of hatred.

            The movie moves with the absolute spirit of Indian locales even after employing English as the medium of language. Being an Indian, I didn’t see it odd Indian actors conversing in English, which I generally feel while watching crossover movies. Ben Kingsley, who plays the title role of Mahatma has such a great replication of bearings about him with Gandhiji. But what he achieves is in the way he takes us this resemblance and employs it so thoroughly with the accuracy of the man called father of India. He ages and weakens and then has the same love for his community and also respect for foreigners. Ben Kingsley depicts the humility, which was all Mahatma was about. The scenes where he rises above his other men are when he smiles at the bickerings of Nehru (Vikram Seth) and Jinnah ( Alyquee Padamsee) over his insistence of calm at the most desperate of times.

Richard Attenborough knows about Indian history than an average Indian himself. He has such an eye for observation of Indian history and also probably a depth of compassion for Indian-ness. He presents an unbiased version of happenings of Indian history, but his hallmark feature is probably how he handles the domestic Indian issues immediate post-independence. Because only an Indian would know these things by feeling them rather than by knowing them. But Attenborugh’s knowledge of these things is impeccable. He shows a strong affinity between Nehru and Jinnah while British rule was on us and how differences sprung up when they got what they craved for. The scene in which Mahatma tries to commiserate the two main politicians to facilitate a united India is very heart warming. You can see how the two faithfuls of Nehru and Patel stood by him at the hardest of times. It showed the vast amount of respect they had for him. But he met his end at the hand of his own men, which probably was more disappointing. Attenborugh catches his last words ‘oh God!’ ( hey ram). They denote the sigh of his defeat at the hand of the men he struggled all his life for, which is nothing but heart rending.

At above three hours, the movie strangely doesn’t look long. I for one felt there would have been a little more story regarding the start of the divide between the two nations. But even if it would have been done, I think it would have been incomplete, as it has so much more to tell. The illustration of rural pre independence India is a very personal matter to the patriotic Indians. There are vast stretches of land devoid of any industries and urbanization, as rural setting was predominant. There are minor references to goats and regarding ashram at Porbandar. The screenplay is interrupted by documentarian videos to patch up the long travels and make a continuum of the story. The issues like freedom fighters and independence, which we had heard as epic phrases are given an exact meaning in ‘Gandhi’. There is a scene at the start of Dandi march when a kid climbs up a tree to see the rivulet of crowd following a loin clothed and shawl covered Gandhiji as he runs at the spearhead. It brings a smile to the kid’s face. It is a symbolic reference to the first stirrings of hope in an Indian’s heart regarding freedom. The kid probably is the typical grandfather of our times, who told about his ringside view of independence struggle to his grandchildren.

It is really so encouraging and inspiring that an Englishman with all his humility had made a movie about Indian independence, which surely helped millions of Indians to know what our history was about. The movie won eight Oscars but more than that it won the hearts of millions of new people throughout the world by knowing about one of the greatest man ever walked on earth. And his walk was firm and quick, which defied his age.