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.

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.

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.

What worked: I think this movie is one of Benegal's finest works, not just for the execution but also for the mission that he took. Rajit Kapoor, a fine actor, brought a different shade of Gandhi's life through this movie , making us explore more about the legacy that he left behind. It's a very beautifully shot, written and directed piece of art, and the movie ended with a very powerful message that was carried throughout the movie. We have watched many interpretations of Gandhi through many art forms, this one stays as one of the important one. What did not work: The movie is acted, shot and edited as a movie as it should have been but at very few times, it felt a bit dramatic, considering the mood and climate of the movie; a bit glamorized. Final verdict: recommended

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.