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More Than A History Lesson
In a stunning performance, Ben Kingsley stars as the famed Indian leader who showed the world that non-violent resistance was an alternative (and better) way to bringing about change and political justice. From his rise to prominence in South Africa, fighting against unfair racial laws, to his role in bringing about the independence of India from England, Gandhi stood firm with his ideals and maintained a simple life. Director Richard Attenborough fills Gandhi's story with beautiful visuals, yet doesn't shy away from presenting the brutality of violence that Gandhi tried to avoid and end. Kingsley is simply amazing in the lead, seemingly inhabiting the body of his character. The supporting Western cast are often little more than cameos, well done although not necessary, and the Indian cast are excellent. The pace is a little too slow at times, but the film is rich in atmosphere and the photography is beautiful. I knew very little about the life of Gandhi prior to viewing this film, and I come away with a knowledge of who he was and an appreciation and respect for what he stood for. Once again, I am reminded of how the actions of one man can affect the world and the power of standing by what one believes in.

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This epic classic is even better on DVD. Don't miss it!
This magnificent film has a cast of thousands as it was was produced before digitizing later became common practice. It was filmed on location in India and starred Ben Kingsley as Gandhi. Of course he had to lose weight, and he did have to maintain a suntan. But in spite of being English and not Indian, he sure did look like Gandhi. And during the course of the film, he just melted right into the character of this very special man he was portraying. The supporting cast was wonderful too and included Candice Bergen, John Gielgud, Trevor Howard, Martin Sheen and Om Puri.

The film covers more half a century, beginning in 1893 in South Africa when Gandhi, an attorney educated in England, is treated like a second-class citizen. Always, he yearned for freedom for his people from British rule. And always, he preached non-violence. It worked. Eventually India did become independent. And, later, when the tension mounted between Muslims and Hindus, and blood began to be shed, Mahatma Gandhi's hunger strike was able to stop the fighting.

Watching the film on DVD is a special treat because it included some original newsreel footage of Gandhi himself as well as a recent interview with Ben Kingsley, who is now in his late fifties. I love all those behind-the-scene stories, such as how he had to learn to spin fabric as part of his role and how difficult it was for him to spin and say his lines at the same time. Also, in the funeral scene, which included 400,000 people, he actually played the part of the corpse instead of using a wax dummy.

I definitely recommend this DVD. See it for the great performances. See it for a sense of history. And see it as a moral lesson in what is possible.

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Movie does not do justice to the person
Richard Attenborough's movie "Gandhi" was a movie of epic proportion. Mohandas Gandhi was probably the most influential person of modern day India. If one reads any of his biographies or his autobiography, one would find that he was a very complex person. The movie was well directed and showed some of the important parts of the freedom struggle starting from his initiation in South Africa. However, for the sake of marketing, the movie concentrates largely on the european angle and sidetrakes the Indian angle completely.

Gandhi was a person who started a new line of thinking that inspired people like Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, and Dalai Lama. He was a complex person who right from childhood was afraid of ghosts and speaking in public. He was a disaster as a lawyer initially. The transformation happened when he saw the injustice happen to him in Pietermaritzburg in South Africa. I wish that the movie had shown the transformation in the person. This was an important catalysis. Most of the people shown in the movie were not important in Gandhi's life, though they were decent actors, such as Candice Bergan and so on. The Indians who associated with him such as Patel, Nehru, Azad and so on are given minor importance.

Some of his important speeches were left out, which are thought provoking. Recently Time magazine had Salman Rushdie write a piece about Gandhi. Granted there is freedom of speech, but I had never seen a more badly written piece about Gandhi than that. Rushdie should stick to fiction - well he is losing his touch in that too. Gandhi had his faults like any human, some of his ideas may not apply in the present day world. But his positives far outweigh his negatives. The sad part is that he is largely forgotten in India itself. Most people in India do not take the trouble to read and know about the real person, what he stood for, his ideals. In fact, I am ashamed to say that South Africa remembers him more than India, even though his is the father of India. Even in the last elections in South Africa, he was used as an icon. However, in India, he is slowly ebbing away.