The Making of the Mahatma

The movie chronicles Gandhi's life from his initial departure to South Africa in the 1890s till his return in the late teens. The movie is great for the most part. Instead of putting Gandhi on a pedestal like the Attenborough film does, it shows Gandhi more as a human being, and shows how an ordinary man came to become a hero to his people. The movie also shows how Gandhi sacrificed his family to ascend to become a leader of his people. The book faithfully follows incidents outlined in Gandhi's autobiography, and is perhaps for this reason a bit wooden. Wooden in the sense that the characters seem like caricatures rather than having the full depth of emotions that a person would normally have. This is a problem generally with many biopics in that they fashion a script from an official record and lose some of the human character in the process. Some of the statements made by Gandhi seem like grandstanding when Gandhi just utters them out of the blue in reaction to a complicated issue without any serious reflection (since some of this is a dramatization of things actually written by Gandhi, it appears funny when Gandhi out of the blue spurts out some language that seems awfully esoteric and philosophical) Some of the extras don't appear to act with genuine enthusiasm either. Getting beyond this, the movie does a good job of showing the fear and injustice which awaited Indians in South Africa in much more stark terms than other movies, and did a good job of showing realistically the creating of a social movement. Thumbs up to Mr. Benegal, a fine filmmaker for another fine movie.

Gandhi's years as a barrister in South Africa aren't as well-known as his later years in his homeland, but he spent 21 years of his life there and is was while fighting against the open injustice there that he formed, tested and put into practice the principals of passive resistance, civil disobedience and dedication to the truth (Satyagraha). It's a period covered also in the Philip Glass opera Satyagraha, but sung in Sanskrit with a libretto taken from the Bhagavad Gita, relating Gandhi's work in South Africa to three other major like-minded public figures, Rabindranath Tagore, Leo Tolstoy and Martin Luther King, Glass's interpretation is rather more poetic and mythical, while Shyam Benegal's The Making of the Mahatma is a rather more straightforward and direct account of Mohandas Gandhi's actions in South Africa and his influence in winning important battles for the rights of Indian workers there.

The acting may be a little bit stiff and theatrical, the direction and editing of scenes mainly workmanlike and matter of fact, but it suits the period (the film covers 1893-1914 of Gandhi's life), and more importantly, its lack of high drama suits the passivity of the subject matter. That doesn't mean however that the film is anything less than compelling or involving, the viewer left in no doubt about the nature of the abuse, mistreatment and lack of rights or justice accorded to anyone in South Africa who isn't white and European. Even in his first two days first two days in the country. Gandhi is expelled from a Durban courtroom by the judge for wearing a turban that is traditional in his profession in India, attacked in public on a number of occasions, and physically ejected from a train for having the temerity to sit in the seat he has purchased rather than share the baggage wagon with the "coolies".

The nature of such bigotry, intolerance and violence that people are subjected to and the sheer injustice of a society that represses non-whites are clearly laid out in the film and is quite shocking. More than just matter-of-factly relating a series of events then, The Making of Mohandas purposefully charts the progress and experiences that would transform Gandhi into the figure who would become so important in achieving the independence of India. The experience of war in the Transvaal and the war with the Zulus have a significant impact, Ghandi coming to the conclusion that injustice can only be effected through non-violent protest and civil disobedience, giving the people a voice through the Indian Opinion newspaper, opposing and then burning registration cards, leading a march to highlight the injustice of poll taxes imposed on the Indian population and intolerance for their religious beliefs. The film moves well through these events, gaining in power and in impressiveness of spectacle that culminates with the New Castle March in 1913 of Gandhi's Satyagraha army.

Legendary filmmaker Shyam Benegal's 'The Making of the Mahatma' portrays the younger years of Gandhi (as the title suggests). Through a compelling narrative, Benegal tells the story of Gandhi's attempts in bringing justice to Indians in South Africa. The film has a certain rawness that makes the situation, setting and people look more real. Gandhi and his wife are portrayed as a humans (rather than a saints) which is especially evident in the scenes that display the marital conflict. Unlike in Feroze Khan's 2007 film 'Gandhi My Father' where Gandhi's wife is portrayed as the ideal wife, here she is portrayed as someone who has very much struggled with her husband's devotion to the people. Rajit Kapoor gives a very sincere performance in the title role and his nuances seem to be spot on. Overall, He does a commendable job. Pallavi Joshi too makes a strong presence and delivers an admirable performance. The supporting cast is adequate but the extras are merely mechanical. Benegal makes a decent effort to avoid Indian stereotypes where the 'whites' are often seen as the bad guys. He makes a good balance in distinguishing the good from the bad without giving in to stereotype. Yet, some of the 'villain' do come across as caricatures. At some point, the pace also drags. There are a few scenes that were extremely disturbing e.g. when the warden pours the toilet water over the wounded businessman. In a nutshell, 'The Making of the Mahatma' tells the compelling story of Gandhi's journey from a young lawyer to the symbol of a nation...a journey that had its costs and demanded sacrifice.

I saw this movie at a special screening in Bombay a few years ago and recently remembered it when the director has made another movie on a great Indian freedom fighter - Subhash Chandra Bose. This movie tried to capture a younger Gandhi without the halo around his head. I thought the scene where he is thrown out of the train for traveling in a first-class compartment in South Africa and his indignation at this slight is captured more beautifully than the more popular movie by Attenborough. This is more of a story of the Mahatma's journey toward greatness rather than about him. It's well worth a watch...and it's a shame I can't find it on DVD anywhere.

It is primarily set in South Africa from 1893 to 1915. It is a biopic of Mahatma Gandhi during his years as an Indian lawyer fighting against discrimination against persons of Indian descent in South Africa. It covers a time in Gandhi's life that is not as well known in the West.

The film first shows Mohandas Gandhi (Rajit Kapoor) and his wife, Kasturba (Pallavi Joshi), discussing his travel to South Africa for a job representing an Indian-heritage businessman in a financial conflict with a distant cousin. Gandhi was a young (24) London-trained barrister when he arrived alone in South Africa, dressed in Western clothes and thinking of himself primarily as a lawyer.

He promptly faces various kinds of discrimination, as Indians are regarded as "colored" in the South African culture. He and other Indian workers were called "Sammy," a derogatory term derived from "swami." Gandhi decides to stay in South Africa to protest the mistreatment of Indian workers and the imposition of discriminatory taxes like a poll tax.

He develops his theory of Satyagraha (holding firmly to truth), a form of nonviolent resistance. He encourages long marches and develops Tolstoy Farm, which becomes a center for his thought, partly based on correspondence with the Russian novelist. We see some of Gandhi's obsession with his vision in his conflict with his wife, but also major triumph achieved in encounters with Colonial Secretary Jan Smuts (Paul Slabolepszy).

This is a significant film because it conveys the crucial development of Gandhi's thought in popular form. Unfortunately, it's a low-budget affair, with wooden performances by secondary characters. The script is also very stiff at points, and with few exceptions, Gandhi is portrayed in heroic terms throughout.

This is the 15th in my list of movies about pacifists.