Gandhi, My Father

Gandhi My Father is a well made movie. It nicely portrays the life of Gandhiji's Eldest Son Harilal. His character, his differences with his father, his love for his family, his desire to stand on his own, his failure, his ego.. Akshaye Khanna completely justifies the role of Harilal. Just not him, everyone did well in the roles they played. Darshan Jariwala is the best on-screen Gandhiji I've ever seen. But I will cut three points as there were few shortcomings.

First, movie was fifteen-twenty minutes longer than it should have. Second, the movie needed more research into Harilal's character. Somewhere, the character looked incomplete. Also, his relation with his brothers was not shown. There was no mention of any other child of Gandhiji in the whole movie. I believe the character like Harilal should be having at least some differences his brothers as well, considering the egoist nature of Harilal.

Anyways, despite some shortcomings, I liked the movie. Recommended...

I was very impressed at both producer Anil Kapoor and director Feroz A. Khan for taking a chance by making this film which works both as a wonderful character study and a study of the relationship between M.K. Gandhi and his son H. Gandhi. Here Gandhi is presented as a very human character. However, the main story revolves around the son. In Hindi cinema we hardly get to see the main character as flawed as has been presented here. It must have been a huge challenge to tell an intriguing story about such a character, but director Khan does nothing short of a wonderful job.

There are top notch powerful performances by the cast. In the title role, Darshan Jariwala is very calm yet confident at showing how he's at ease in the role. He is sublime as he effectively brings out Gandhi's vulnerability and weakness. Shefali Shah is a knockout as Kasturba Gandhi. This actress is simply amazing and one should only watch her to understand what I mean. Last but not least, 'Gandhi My Father' is Akshaye Khanna's film. The actor finally gets a role that does full justice to his talent. Not only is it one of the best performances of the year, but he's proved that he can be one of the best actors in Hindi cinema.

While I read in several comments stating that it was a boring film, I disagree. I did find the 2nd half of the film a little slow paced but it still kept me engaged. I was also impressed that we were presented a different side of Gandhi and how he may have been as a husband and father. However, there was no mention of Gandhi's other children. How was his and Harilal's relationship with them? Also I thought it would have been more intriguing if Khan further explored Harilal's psyche as the man was severely disturbed. Here the perspective is from an outsider's point of view but that may be because Khan wanted to stay more true to the facts.

A fine piece of work and an impressive character study.

This movie is about a Dysfunctinal Family but Not just any Dysfunctional Family. It is about the Family of the Father of our Nation (India) although, the film focuses mainly on the estranged relationship between Mahatma Gandhi and his eldest son Harilal Gandhi. It shows how The Mahatma had to kill M.K. Gandhi, how he had to sacrifice his family life in order to achieve our freedom. Every time Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and his son would try to get close the Mahatma would come between them. This is a beautifully done film. Akshaye Khanna has proved himself to be a Top Actor. He expressed emotions very naturally. Darshan Jariwala who mainly stars in Plays-Gurukant Desai's lawyer in Guru has portrayed Gandhi wonderfully.(as a real Human Being, unlike Ben Kingsley who made him look like a God) Shefali Shah the girl from Monsoon Wedding has also done a really good job of showing how Kasturba Gandhi was torn between father and son. This Movie is touching and so is its soundtrack "Raghupati Raghava" sung in a very unique manner. I saw this movie just 3 hours ago(it released in Dubai a day earlier-on the 2nd) and when the movie was over there was "Pin Drop Silence" and while exiting out of the Theatre not ONE person pushed another( Can you imagine us Indians not pushing ?) NOT ONE ! There was a Sacred Silence...

The movie took a new angle to Gandhi's life, which is nice to see and it shows how human he was. His relationship with Harilal is something that Gandhi was troubled by and mentioned it several times as his failure as a father in his autobiography.

My big gripe is that I thought Gandhi was surprisingly uncharismatic in the movie. It could have been better acted by the person who played Gandhi. Some of Gandhi's statements seemed too smug and it seemed as if he was intentionally portrayed in a negative light in some parts of the movie.

The movie is not really all-rounded, but focused only narrowly on the relationship of the father and son. The rest is blurred out and only used to show the time frame and the general setting of the movie.

Overall nice movie if you keep in mind that it is not a complete picture.

Gandhi My Father shows that Harilal is as human as the next man – materialistic and believer of instant karma who sadly failed to see the bigger picture his father always attempted to show. Time and again he makes serious attempts to be a good son, husband and a father - however lady luck leaves him in the lurch, always. As time gallops he is engulfed into the vicious circle about thinking the alternative life he could have had.... and gets hopelessly ruined.

The director treads the middle path here. While attempting NOT to de-glorify Mahatma, it goes to depict - all that Harilal wanted was a normal patronising father. Gandhi became Mahatma not only because he brought his principles home, but imposed too. And the price he paid to be "Father of the Nation" was his son. Do the proverbs "Charity becomes at home" and "Set your house in order first" mean anything? Naaah!

Performance::

Darshan Jariwala:: From TV serials to bagging the role of Gandhi he has come a long way indeed. Probably its hard to wear off Ben Kingsley, hence initially you feel he is not personifying Gandhi well enough. But as Gandhi ages, Mr. Jariwala gets convincing.

Akshaye Khanna:: Gives his best shot to get into the skin of the character

Bhumika:: Impeccable acting, though a short role

Shefali Shetty:: Rock-solid performance

Gandhi My Father - it's a saga of Harilal ceasing to be a Gandhi at the cost of Mohandas becoming Mahatma, and not vice-versa.

Direction is first-rate. Anil Kapoor should be lauded for taking a bold step.

Bollywood is definitely coming of age, however time and again period dramas not fared well at the box-office. Until it finds its niche, this genre is best left to Hollywood or television.

PS: The movie skirts around the father-son relationship, so why go astray and deliberately incorporate a few scenes to depict the greatness of Gandhi?