Post celebrating the great occasion of Gandhi Jayanti, we bring to you the top five great films ever made on our Father of the Nation. A great leader who fought for freedom with ‘Ahimsa’ as core value, the Mahatma has inspired filmmakers of various generations to take a closer look at what it takes to being a Gandhi.
1. Gandhi (1982) – The first ever film made on Mahatma, Gandhi the film remains to be the most effective take on the great man. Made by Richard Attenborough, the film starred Ben Kingsley as iconic Gandhi. The film, that shows the long journey of the Mahatma from South Africa to fighting oppression in India, connected well with the masses. The film will always rank the first in the list of many Gandhi films.
2.The Making of the Mahatma (1996) – This bilingual biography made by legendary film maker Shyam Benegal, saw Rajit Kapoor playing the role of Gandhi. Just like Attenborough’s film, the story showed the transgression of Mohandas from being a simple barrister in South Africa to becoming a Father of the Nation for India. Rajit looked, and played the role convincingly, only after the likes of Ben Kingsley.
3.Hey Ram (2000) – The film that spoke mostly of the angst housed by Godse, the assassin of Gandhi, was effective in its own way to show human emotions in various forms. The inner struggle of Godse was magically portrayed by Actor Kamal Hassan, who was the one who directed and produced the film. Gandhi was played by Naseeruddin Shah. Hey Ram showed a completely different take on how Gandhism counter affected few lives while winning the freedom for the Country for many.
4.Lage Raho Munnabhai (2005) – Following the super success of Munnabhai MBBS, director Vidhu Vinod Chopra introduced ‘Gandhigiri’ in the sequel. Sanjay Dutt starred in the lead role as Munna while Gandhi was portrayed by Marathi actor Dilip Prabhavalkar. The film shows an endearing take on how Gandhi is seen only to Munna and helps him to resolve many societal issues with the principle of ‘Gandhism’. The film turned out to be a superhit, just like its first part.
5.Gandhi My Father (2007) – This is easily one of the most controversial films produced by Anil Kapoor. Gandhi My Father was the story of Mahatma’s personal life where it showed how Mohandas, despite being the Father of the Nation, could not be successful as a real father in his son, Harilal Gandhi. Bapu was played by Darshan Zariwala while Harilal was played by Akshaye Khanna. The film fetched critical acclaim from all quarters, making the reseeachers take a closer look at Mahatma’s deepest secrets.
