Home | Movies By Year | Movies from 1982


Gandhi (film)

Buy Gandhi (film) now from Amazon

First, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the movie. And once you've experienced the movie, tell everyone what you thought about it.

Wikipedia article




'Gandhi' is a 1982 period biographical film based on the life of Mahatma Gandhi, the leader of nonviolent non-cooperative Indian independence movement against the British Empire during the 20th century. A co-production between India and United Kingdom, it is directed and produced by Richard Attenborough from a screenplay written by John Briley. 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 from a South African train for being in a whites-only compartment, and concludes with his assassination and funeral in 1948. Although a practising Hindu, Gandhi's embracing of other faiths, particularly Christianity and Islam, is also depicted.

'Gandhi' was released in India on 30 November 1982, in the United Kingdom on 3 December, and in the United States on 8 December. It was praised for a historically accurate portrayal of the life of Gandhi, the Indian independence movement and the deteriorating results of British colonisation on India, its production values, costume design, and Kingsley's performance, which received worldwide critical acclaim. It became a commercial success, grossing $127.8 million on a $22 million budget.

The film received a leading eleven nominations at the 55th Academy Awards, winning eight (more than any other film nominated that year), including for the Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor (for Kingsley). 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 the 70th Indian Independence Day. The British Film Institute ranked 'Gandhi' as the 34th greatest British film of the 20th century.

Plot



On 30 January 1948,pp. 1821, Briley (1983). on his way to an evening prayer service, 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. His state funeral is shown, the procession attended by millions of people from all walks of life, with a radio reporter speaking eloquently about Gandhi's world-changing life and works.

In June 1893, the 23-year-old Gandhi is thrown off from a South African train for being an Indian sitting in a first-class compartment despite having a first-class ticket.pp. 2124, Briley (1983). Realising the laws are biased against Indians, he then decides to start a non-violent protest campaign for the rights of all Indians in South Africa, arguing that they are British subjects and entitled to the same rights and privileges. After numerous arrests and unwelcome international attention, the government finally relents by recognising some rights for Indians.Briley (1983), p. 54, represents Gandhi's final victory in South Africa by depicting General Smuts as telling Gandhi, "a Royal Commission to 'investigate' the new legislation.... I think I could guarantee they would recommend the Act be repealed.... You yourself are free from this moment.".

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 non-violent non-cooperation campaign of unprecedented scale, coordinating millions of Indians nationwide. There are some setbacks, such as violence against the protesters, Gandhi's occasional imprisonment, and the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre.

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. He also travels to London for a conference concerning Britain's possible departure from India; this, however, proves fruitless. Gandhi spends much of the Second World War in prison. During a house arrest, his wife dies. After the war ends,Second World War is alluded to in three scenes in the film. Briley (1983) first presents Gandhi, soon after his return from London in the early 1930, as saying "They are preparing for war. I will not support it, but I do not intend to take advantage of their danger" (p. 146). Second, after war is underway (as indicated by a newspaper headline), Gandhi is prevented by the British from speaking when he says he will "speak against war" (p. 147); Kasturba then tells the British: "If you take my husband, I intend to speak in his place" (p. 147), although she too is prevented from speaking. Third, Margaret Bourke-White and Gandhi discuss whether nonviolence could be effective against Hitler (Gandhi says: "What you cannot do is accept injustice. From Hitler or anyone...", p. 151). India finally wins its independence.The British commitment to support Indian independence is indicated in the first scene set after WWII, in which Mountbatten arrives at Delhi Airport and then, in press conference, announces: "We have come to crown victory with friendship to assist at the birth of an independent India and to welcome her as an equal member in the British Commonwealth of Nations... I am here to see that I am the last British Viceroy" (Briley, 1983, p. 155). 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,Briley (1983), Gandhi to Jinnah: "I am asking Panditji to stand down. I want you to be the first Prime Minister of India" (p. 158). but the Partition of India is carried out nevertheless. Religious tensions between Hindus and Muslims erupt into nationwide violence. Repulsed by this sudden unrest, Gandhi declares a hunger strike, in which he will not eat until the fighting stops.In Briley (1983), Gandhi mentions he is on a "fast" (p. 168), and later says that he wants "That the fighting will stop that you make me believe it will never start again" (p. 172). 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.Briley (1983), p. 179. Gandhi is cremated and his ashes are scattered on the holy Ganga.Briley (1983), p. 180; in the movie/screenplay, the river is not identified. As this happens, viewers hear Gandhi in another voiceover from earlier in the film.

Cast



* Ben Kingsley as Mahatma Gandhi

* Rohini Hattangadi as Kasturba Gandhi

* Roshan Seth as Jawaharlal Nehru

* Pradeep Kumar as V. K. Krishna Menon

* Saeed Jaffrey as Vallabhbhai Patel

* Virendra Razdan as Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad

* Candice Bergen as Margaret Bourke-White

* Edward Fox as Brigadier General Reginald Dyer

* Habib Tanvir as Sir Chimanlal Harilal Setalvad, an Indian barrister

* John Gielgud as Viceroy Lord Irwin

* Trevor Howard as Justice Robert Stonehouse Broomfield

* John Mills as Viceroy Lord Chelmsford

* Shane Rimmer as the commentator on Gandhi's death

* Martin Sheen as Vince Walker, a fictional journalist based partially on Webb Miller

* Ian Charleson as Charles Freer Andrews, a priest

* Athol Fugard as General Jan Smuts

* David Gant as Daniels

* Gareth Forwood as Secretary

* Geraldine James as Mirabehn (Madeleine Slade)

* Alyque Padamsee as Muhammad Ali Jinnah

* Amrish Puri as Dada Abdulla Hajee Adab, President of the Natal Indian Congress

* Ian Bannen as senior officer Fields

* Richard Griffiths as Collins, Walker's colleague

* Nigel Hawthorne as Mr Kinnoch

* Richard Vernon as Sir Edward Albert Gait, Lieutenant-Governor of Bihar and Orissa

* Michael Hordern as Sir George Hodge

* Shreeram Lagoo as Gopal Krishna Gokhale

* Terrence Hardiman as Ramsay MacDonald, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

* Om Puri as Nahari, a rioter

* Dalip Tahil as Zia, a Satyagrahi

* Daniel Day-Lewis as Colin

* Ray Burdis as Youth 1

* Daniel Peacock as Youth 2

* Avis Bunnage as Colin's mother

* Dominic Guard as Subaltern

* Bernard Hill as Sergeant Putnam

* John Ratzenberger as American driver for Bourke-White

* Pankaj Mohan as Gandhi's first secretary, Mahadev Desai

* Pankaj Kapur as Gandhi's second secretary, Pyarelal Nayyar

* Anang Desai as Acharya Kripalani

* Dilsher Singh as Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan

* Gunther Maria Halmer as Hermann Kallenbach

* Peter Harlowe as Viceroy Lord Mountbatten

* Harsh Nayyar as Nathuram Godse, Gandhi's assassin

* Vijay Kashyap as Narayan Apte, partner of Godse

* Supriya Pathak as Manu, cousin grandniece of Gandhi

* Neena Gupta as Abha, cousin grandniece-in-law of Gandhi

* Tom Alter as a doctor at Aga Khan Palace

* Alok Nath as Tyeb Mohammad, a member of the Natal Indian Congress

* Mohan Agashe as Tyeb Mohammad's associate

* Sekhar Chatterjee as Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy

* John Savident as manager of the mine

Production



This film had been Richard Attenborough's dream project, although two previous attempts at filming had failed. In 1952, Gabriel Pascal secured an agreement with the Prime Minister of India (Jawaharlal Nehru) to produce a film of Gandhi's life. However, Pascal died in 1954 before preparations were completed.See Page 219 states that "Nehru had given his consent, which he confirmed later in a letter to Gabriel: 'I feel... that you are the man who can produce something worthwhile. I was greatly interested in what you told me about this subject [the Gandhi film] and your whole approach to it."

In 1962 Attenborough was contacted by Motilal Kothari, an Indian-born civil servant working with the Indian High Commission in London and a devout follower of Gandhi. Kothari insisted that Attenborough meet him to discuss a film about Gandhi.Wakeman, John. 'World Film Directors', Volume 2. The H. W. Wilson Company, 1988, p. 79. Attenborough agreed, after reading Louis Fischer's biography of Gandhi and spent the next 18 years attempting to get the film made. He was able to meet prime minister Nehru and his daughter Indira Gandhi through a connection with Lord Louis Mountbatten, the last Viceroy of India. Nehru approved of the film and promised to help support its production, but his death in 1964 was one of the film's many setbacks. Attenborough would dedicate the film to the memory of Kothari, Mountbatten, and Nehru.

David Lean and Sam Spiegel had planned to make a film about Gandhi after completing 'The Bridge on the River Kwai', reportedly with Alec Guinness as Gandhi. Ultimately, the project was abandoned in favour of 'Lawrence of Arabia' (1962).'Entirely Up To You, Darling' by Diana Hawkins & Richard Attenborough; paperback; Arrow Books; published 2009. Attenborough reluctantly approached Lean with his own Gandhi project in the late 1960s, and Lean agreed to direct the film and offered Attenborough the lead role. Instead Lean began filming 'Ryan's Daughter', during which time Motilai Kothari had died and the project fell apart.Wakeman (1988), p. 81.

Attenborough again attempted to resurrect the project in 1976 with backing from Warner Brothers. Then prime minister Indira Gandhi declared a state of emergency in India and shooting would be impossible. Co-producer Rani Dube persuaded prime minister Indira Gandhi to provide the first $10 million from the National Film Development Corporation of India, chaired by D. V. S. Raju at that time, on the back of which the remainder of the funding was finally raised.Wakeman (1988), p. 82. Finally in 1980 Attenborough was able to secure the remainder of the funding needed to make the film. Screenwriter John Briley had introduced him to Jake Eberts, the chief executive at the new Goldcrest production company that raised approximately two-thirds of the film's budget.

Shooting began on 26 November 1980 and ended on 10 May 1981. Some scenes were shot near Koilwar Bridge, in Bihar. Over 300,000 extras were used in the funeral scene, the most for any film, according to 'Guinness World Records'.

Casting

During pre-production, there was much speculation as to who would play the role of Gandhi.Kroll (1982, p. 60) mentions advocacy of Alec Guinness, John Hurt, and Dustin Hoffman, and quotes Attenborough as stating that "At one point Paramount actually said they'd give me the money if Richard Burton could play Gandhi." The choice was Ben Kingsley, who is partly of Indian heritage (his father was Gujarati and his birth name is Krishna Bhanji).See "Born Krishna Bhanji, Kingsley changed his name when he became an actor: the Kingsley comes from his paternal grandfather, who became a successful spice trader in East Africa and was known as King Clove."

Release



'Gandhi' premiered in New Delhi, India on 30 November 1982. Two days later, on 2 December, it had a Royal Premiere at the Odeon Leicester Square in London in the presence of Prince Charles and Princess Diana before opening to the public the following day. The film had a limited release in the US starting on Wednesday, 8 December 1982, followed by a wider release in January 1983. In February 1983 it opened on two screens in India as well as opening nationwide in the UK and expanding into other countries.

Reception



Box office

The film grossed $81,917 in its first 6 days at the Odeon Leicester Square in London. In the United States and Canada, it grossed $183,583 in its first 5 days from 4 theatres (Ziegfeld Theatre in New York City; Uptown Theater in Washington D.C.; Century Plaza in Los Angeles; and the York in Toronto). Due to the running time, it could be shown only three times a day. It went on to gross in the United States and Canada, the 12th highest-grossing film of 1982.

Outside of the United States and Canada, the film grossed in the rest of the world, the third highest for the year.

In the United Kingdom, the film grossed ( adjusted for inflation). It is one of the top ten highest-grossing British independent films of all time adjusted for inflation.

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 or 1billion rupees. At today's exchange rate, that amounts to , still making it one of the highest-grossing imported films in the country. It was shown tax free in Bombay (known as Mumbai since 1995) and Delhi.

The film grossed a total of worldwide. Goldcrest Films invested 5,076,000 in the film and received 11,461,000 in return, earning them a profit of 6,385,000.

Critical response

Reviews were broadly positive not only in India but also internationally. The film was discussed or reviewed in 'Newsweek', 'Time', the 'Washington Post', 'The Public Historian', 'Cross Currents', 'The Journal of Asian Studies', 'Film Quarterly', 'The Progressive', 'The Christian Century' and elsewhere. Ben Kingsley's performance was especially praised. Among the few who took a more negative view of the film, historian Lawrence James called it "pure hagiography" while anthropologist Akhil Gupta said it "suffers from tepid direction and a superficial and misleading interpretation of history." Also Indian novelist Makarand R. Paranjape has written that "'Gandhi', though hagiographical, follow a mimetic style of film-making in which cinema, the visual image itself, is supposed to portray or reflect 'reality'". The film was also criticised by some right-wing commentators who objected to the film's advocacy of nonviolence, including Pat Buchanan, Emmett Tyrrell, and especially Richard Grenier. In 'Time', Richard Schickel wrote that in portraying Gandhi's "spiritual presence... Kingsley is nothing short of astonishing." A "singular virtue" of the film is that "its title figure is also a character in the usual dramatic sense of the term." Schickel viewed Attenborough's directorial style as having "a conventional handsomeness that is more predictable than enlivening," but this "stylistic self-denial serves to keep one's attention fastened where it belongs: on a persuasive, if perhaps debatable vision of Gandhi's spirit, and on the remarkable actor who has caught its light in all its seasons." Roger Ebert gave the film four stars and called it a "remarkable experience", and placed it 5th on his 10 best films of 1983.[https://web.archive.org/web/20130707145722/http://www.rogerebert.com/rogers-journal/eberts-10-best-lists-1967-present Ebert's 10 Best Lists: 1967 to Present.] Roger Ebert of 'The Chicago Sun-Times' via the Internet Archive. Retrieved 18 October 2016.

In 'Newsweek', Jack Kroll stated that "There are very few movies that absolutely must be seen. Sir Richard Attenborough's 'Gandhi' is one of them." The movie "deals with a subject of great importance... with a mixture of high intelligence and immediate emotional impact... [and] Ben Kingsley... gives what is possibly the most astonishing biographical performance in screen history." Kroll stated that the screenplay's "least persuasive characters are Gandhi's Western allies and acolytes" such as an English cleric and an American journalist, but that "Attenborough's 'old-fashioned' style is exactly right for the no-tricks, no-phony-psychologizing quality he wants." Furthermore, Attenborough



mounts a powerful challenge to his audience by presenting Gandhi as the most profound and effective of revolutionaries, creating out of a fierce personal discipline a chain reaction that led to tremendous historical consequences. At a time of deep political unrest, economic dislocation and nuclear anxiety, seeing "Gandhi" is an experience that will change many minds and hearts.



According to the Museum of Broadcast Communications there was "a cycle of film and television productions which emerged during the first half of the 1980s, which seemed to indicate Britain's growing preoccupation with India, Empire and a particular aspect of British cultural history".[http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/J/htmlJ/jewelinthe/jewelinthe.htm JEWEL IN THE CROWN] , Museum of Broadcast Communication In addition to 'Gandhi,' this cycle also included 'Heat and Dust' (1983), 'Octopussy' (1983), 'The Jewel in the Crown' (1984), 'The Far Pavilions' (1984) and 'A Passage to India' (1984).

Patrick French negatively reviewed the film, writing in 'The Telegraph':

An important origin of one myth about Gandhi was Richard Attenborough's 1982 film. Take the episode when the newly arrived Gandhi is ejected from a first-class railway carriage at Pietermaritzburg after a white passenger objects to sharing space with a "coolie" (an Indian indentured labourer). In fact, Gandhi's demand to be allowed to travel first-class was accepted by the railway company. Rather than marking the start of a campaign against racial oppression, as legend has it, this episode was the start of a campaign to extend racial segregation in South Africa. Gandhi was adamant that "respectable Indians" should not be obliged to use the same facilities as "raw Kaffirs". He petitioned the authorities in the port city of Durban, where he practised law, to end the indignity of making Indians use the same entrance to the post office as blacks, and counted it a victory when three doors were introduced: one for Europeans, one for Asiatics and one for Natives.


Richard Grenier in his 1983 article, "The Gandhi Nobody Knows", which was also the title of the book of the same name and topic, also criticised the film, arguing it misportrayed him as a "saint". He also alleged the Indian government admitted to financing about a third of the film's budget. Grenier's book later became an inspiration for G. B. Singh's book 'Gandhi: Behind the Mask of Divinity'. Parts of the book also discuss the film negatively. Singh, a long term critic of Gandhi, also went on to co-author 'Gandhi Under Cross Examination' with Timothy Watson.

In the DVD edition of the 1998 film 'Jinnah', the director's commentary of the film makes mention of the 1982 film. In the commentary, both Sir Christopher Lee, who portrayed the older Muhammed Ali Jinnah, and director Jamil Dehlavi criticised the film 'Gandhi' for its portrayal of Jinnah, arguing it to be demonising and historically inaccurate.

One notable person, Mark Boyle (better known as "The Moneyless Man") has stated that watching the film was the moment that changed his life and said that after that, he took Mahatma Gandhi's message of peace and non-violence to heart and that the film inspired him to become an activist.

Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes retrospectively collected 108 reviews and judged 89% of them to be positive, with an average rating of 8.30/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "Director Richard Attenborough is typically sympathetic and sure-handed, but it's Ben Kingsley's magnetic performance that acts as the linchpin for this sprawling, lengthy biopic." Metacritic gave the film a score of 79 out of 100 based on 16 critical reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". CinemaScore reported that audiences gave the film a rare "A+" grade. In 2010, the 'Independent Film & Television Alliance' selected the film as one of the 30 Most Significant Independent Films of the last 30 years.

Awards and nominations

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"

|-

! Award

! Category

! Recipients

! Result

|-

| rowspan="11"| Academy Awards

| Best Picture

| rowspan="2"| Richard Attenborough

|

|-

| Best Director

|

|-

| Best Actor

| Ben Kingsley

|

|-

| Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen

| John Briley

|

|-

| Best Art Direction

| Art Direction: Stuart Craig and Robert W. Laing;
Set Decoration: Michael Seirton

|

|-

| Best Cinematography

| Billy Williams and Ronnie Taylor

|

|-

| Best Costume Design

| John Mollo and Bhanu Athaiya

|

|-

| Best Film Editing

| John Bloom

|

|-

| Best Makeup

| Tom Smith

|

|-

| Best Original Score

| Ravi Shankar and George Fenton

|

|-

| Best Sound

| Gerry Humphreys, Robin O'Donoghue, Jonathan Bates and Simon Kaye

|

|-

| American Cinema Editors Awards

| Best Edited Feature Film

| John Bloom

|

|-

| rowspan="16"| British Academy Film Awards

| Best Film

| rowspan="2"| Richard Attenborough

|

|-

| Best Direction

|

|-

| Best Actor in a Leading Role

| Ben Kingsley

|

|-

| rowspan="2"| Best Actor in a Supporting Role

| Edward Fox

|

|-

| Roshan Seth

|

|-

| rowspan="2"| Best Actress in a Supporting Role

| Candice Bergen

|

|-

| Rohini Hattangadi

|

|-

| Best Screenplay

| John Briley

|

|-

| Best Cinematography

| Billy Williams and Ronnie Taylor

|

|-

| Best Costume Design

| John Mollo and Bhanu Athaiya

|

|-

| Best Film Editing

| John Bloom

|

|-

| Best Make Up Artist

| Tom Smith

|

|-

| Best Production Design/Art Direction

| Stuart Craig

|

|-

| Best Score

| Ravi Shankar and George Fenton

|

|-

| Best Sound

| Gerry Humphreys, Robin O'Donoghue and Jonathan Bates and Simon Kaye

|

|-

| Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles

| Ben Kingsley

|

|-

| British Society of Cinematographers

| Best Cinematography

| Billy Williams and Ronnie Taylor

|

|-

| rowspan="4"| David di Donatello Awards

| Best Foreign Film

| rowspan="2"| Richard Attenborough

|

|-

| Best Foreign Producer

|

|-

| Best Foreign Screenplay

| John Briley

|

|-

| European David Award

| rowspan="2"| Richard Attenborough

|

|-

| Directors Guild of America Awards

| Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures

|

|-

| Evening Standard British Film Awards

| Best Actor

| Ben Kingsley

|

|-

| rowspan="5"| Golden Globe Awards

| colspan="2"| Best Foreign Film

|

|-

| Best Actor in a Motion Picture Drama

| Ben Kingsley

|

|-

| Best Director Motion Picture

| Richard Attenborough

|

|-

| Best Screenplay Motion Picture

| John Briley

|

|-

| New Star of the Year Actor

| Ben Kingsley

|

|-

| Grammy Awards

| Best Album of Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or Television Special

| Ravi Shankar and George Fenton

|

|-

| Japan Academy Film Prize

| colspan="2"| Outstanding Foreign Language Film

|

|-

| Kansas City Film Critics Circle Awards

| Best Actor

| rowspan="2"| Ben Kingsley

|

|-

| London Film Critics' Circle Awards

| Actor of the Year

|

|-

| rowspan="3"| Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards

| colspan="2"| Best Film

|

|-

| Best Director

| Richard Attenborough

|

|-

| Best Actor

| Ben Kingsley

|

|-

| rowspan="3"| National Board of Review Awards

| colspan="2"| Best Film

|

|-

| colspan="2"| Top Ten Films

|

|-

| Best Actor

| rowspan="2"| Ben Kingsley

|

|-

| National Society of Film Critics Awards

| Best Actor

|

|-

| rowspan="2"| New York Film Critics Circle Awards

| colspan="2"| Best Film

|

|-

| Best Actor

| Ben Kingsley

|

|}

See also



* BFI Top 100 British films

* List of artistic depictions of Mahatma Gandhi

* List of Indian Academy Award winners and nominees

* List of historical drama films of Asia

References



;Further reading

* Attenborough, Richard. 'In Search of Gandhi' (1982), memoir on making the film

* Hay, Stephen. "Attenborough's 'Gandhi,'" 'The Public Historian,' 5#3 (1983), pp. 8494 [https://www.jstor.org/stable/3377031 in JSTOR]; evaluates the film's historical accuracy and finds it mixed in the first half of the film and good in the second half


Buy Gandhi (film) now from Amazon

<-- Return to movies from 1982



This work is released under CC-BY-SA. Some or all of this content attributed to http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1110863365.