Martyrs Day 2022: Darshan Jariwala In Gandhi My Father to Naseeruddin Shah in Hey Ram; here's a list of actors who have played the role of Mahatma Gandhi

Ben Kingsley in Gandhi (1982):

Richard Attenborough’s biopic! Need anything more be said? …. Director Attenborough and actor Ben Kingsley as Mahatma Gandhi did what no Indian filmmaker or actor has ever done for the Mahatma. The film made him a household name. Take a bow again, Mr. Kingsley. However Sir Ben was not happy to rest on his Gandhian laurels. In an interview with me, he had said, “I feel having portrayed one character (Gandhi) so effectively, I need not use the same set of muscles to portray other characters. Luckily, directors and producers like to stretch me and offer me a variety of roles. I owe my variety of roles to American and British filmmakers. However, I was pretty versatile even before I worked on Gandhi. I had done 17 Shakespearean characters before. So variety for me is not an unusual thing. It's amazing how beautifully the cards fell for my career."

Darshan Jariwala In Gandhi My Father (2007):

Gujarati actor Jariwala is poignant and body-perfect in bringing the Mahatma to life. How does he compare with other celluloid Gandhis? That's as silly as asking how Attenborough's Gandhi compares with Kamal Haasan's Hey Ram. Gandhi My Father moves at its own mellowed-down volition, often at the expense of the drama. The father-son conflict could and perhaps should have been far more intense and dramatic. The controlled drama is perfectly modulated by Akshaye Khanna who as Harilal is the portrait of filial angst, more sinned against than sin, more stranger to his father than a son, more wanting to be loved than loved. Khanna gets rid of some of his dramatic props (clenched jaw, etc) to sink into character. As for Shefali Shah as Kasturba, she makes the wispy sepia-toned world of home and politics come together in a sweep of maternal affections. Her warm and sensitive performance furnishes this rather-dry film with the milk of human kindness. The quality of human kindness remains largely untapped in the narration. …What Gandhi My Father needed was a tight jadoo ki jhappi (as that wacky Gandhian Munnabhai calls it). Gandhi My Father holds back the tears and fears of a son who wants to be hugged by his father who's busy embracing the nation. The restrain is remarkable for going against the requirements of the story. But it doesn't merit in a movie that needed all its emotional components to move in the same direction as its underlining inter-relationships.

Dilip Prabhavalkar In Lage Raho Munnabhai (2006):

Raj Kumar Hirani was heavily criticized for casting Prabhavalkar as Mahatma Gandhi. In an interview with me Hirani had opened up on the subject: “I wasn't scared of writing Munnabhai M.B.B.S. But writing Lage Raho..., where I had to bring in Mahatma Gandhi, was scary. What saved Gandhiji and my film from getting stressed was the humour. You know Gandhiji was a very humorous man. But still, I took a big risk in doing a film where Gandhi was a character. Several actors including Naseeruddin Shah were auditioned for Gandhi's role. We had spoken to Naseer. He was interested. But he got busy with Krrish. Then there was his directorial venture. Then we thought of Surendra Rajan who had played Gandhiji in Raj Santoshi's Legend Of Bhagat Singh. He had played the sweeper in Munnabhai M.B.B.S. We finally zeroed in on this wonderful theatre and television actor Dilip Prabhavalkar for the role. We sent Dilip's pictures to the guy who had done Ben Kingsley's makeup and he approved. Though Dilip had done his homework, he couldn't get it right on the first day. We then let him be. We told him to stop aping Gandhiji, just be himself as the attire was enough to suggest whom he was playing. "While working on the film, Hirani developed a special respect for Mahatma Gandhi and his ideology." I wasn't a huge Gandhian fan before making this film. But I started reading up on him for this film. It required a lot of research. That's when I discovered this amazing man. His simple honest principles are eminently applicable today. Why do we wait for others to change the world? Why can't you or I do it? I'm not offering Gandhism as a full and final solution. But it's better than the complete erosion of ideology in today's society."

Rajit Kapur in The Making Of The Mahatma (1996):

The vastly underrated Rajit Kapur (not to be confused with that other good actor Rajat Kapoor) was immensely effective as the young Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi in this film directed by Shyam Benegal. Benegal and Kapur always shared a very special rapport. If you have seen Suraj Ka Satwan Ghoda you’d know what I mean. Here in this bio-pic adapted from Fatima Meer’sThe Apprenticeship of a Mahatma, Benegal traced the evolution of the Mahatma, his early years in South Africa, and how they shaped his future. This is one Mahatma bio-pic that has stood the test of time.

Naseeruddin Shah in Hey Ram (2000):

This is perhaps Kamal Haasan’s most coherent directorial work to date. Like all of Kamal’s work, the narrative rambled on and on. But what stood out was the filmmaker actor’s immovable faith in the teachings of Gandhiji to move mountains. Naseeruddin Shah made an appearance towards the end of the film as the Mahatma. In my opinion, he was the best Gandhi I’ve ever seen. Naseer was auditioned for Mahatma Gandhi’s role in Attenborough’s role. He has no regrets about losing it to Ben Kingsley.

Subhash K Jha is a Patna-based film critic who has been writing about Bollywood for long enough to know the industry inside out. He tweets at @SubhashK_Jha.

 

 

 

by Subhash K Jha