ATTENBOROUGH’S ‘GANDHI’ AND MY TWENTIES; MORE THAN JUST A MOVIE REVIEW
Towards the first half an hour of this Ben Kingsley- Attenborough masterpiece, there came a small 2 minute scene which made me finalise what my review title is going to be. Gandhiji fasts in the Sabarmati Ashram to make Home Rule Movement end, and Meerabehn, his adopted daughter, who is originally from the British Empire, comes with some water to give him. Home Rule Movement and the idea of peaceful satyagraha was originally the idea of Gandhi himself, against the ruling of unlawful custody of Indians without warrant. An incident at Chauri- Chaura (Bengal) where the peaceful protesters violated the norms of Ahimsa, barged on the policemen and lit fire on the police station and killed policemen pushes Gandhi to strongly decide for ending the Movement. While Meerabehn enters with water, Kasturbha Gandhi is seen walking out heartbroken at Gandhi’s condition and before giving water, Meerabehn explains to him that there is only some lemon in the water. Here, J L Nehru enters the room with the news of Home Rule Movement being cancelled indefinitely. At that moment, I realised why Gandhi is called Mahatma- his power to see through his own actions and how he is unapologetically standing strong to amend when things don’t go the way they should.
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These were the opening lines of the movie, considered as one of the greatest works of Director Richard Attenborough, gaining 8 out of 11 nominated Oscar Awards in the year 1983. The director’s journey of 24 years to make this movie come true, in itself showcases his passion for the subject, love and faith in Gandhi as a person. Ben Kingsley, who plays Gandhiji in the movie was a newcomer and 38 years of age, yet, I doubt have there been any other Ben Kinglsey movies that can stand even close to his work in this movie- not The Jungle Book(2016), nor Hugo(2011), or even Sexy Beast(2000).
The first and foremost lesson I grasped from the persona is how NO ONE is born great, or capable. Gandhiji’s arrogance is clearly shown while he deals with the angry white man and ticket collector in South Africa where is thrown out for being black. His intolerance is evident when he understands his educated fellow Indian men are accepting this to be a part of their normal life. Gandhi was not a world class orator, evident from his first speech in South Africa and his welcome speech in India, nor a man of ideas- but a man who adopts ideas from others like sitting while the horsemen come to attack his protest. In this new age order where everything is based on competition, there comes a moment when you doubt on your own capacity among your fellow beings. But Gandhi shows how even the one man who became instrumental in all our lives, was not great from the start.
Then what made him great? The movie showcases the answer as well. Research. Studies. First Hand Experiences. Learning. Reading. Walking through life and a million perspectives. These can be compiled and called a ‘Gandhi Starter Pack’. He realised his birth land wants him more than South Africa, thus returns to India, and the first thing he does here is to roam around the nation, talk to people, understand the country, read and study. In short, throughout the movie, we see that Gandhi’s entire life was a learning and application process.
Being
honest and non violent is better said than put into action- this is not
something which needs further
explanation. But what is the price you pay for standing up for your own ideologies and not accepting to be defied
on the same? Jail time, brutal attacks, and abuses? Not just that, but having to see your men go through the same.
Happening to us is something we
might still tolerate. But making your fellow beings accept the ideologies and
make them realise the true value of
these isn’t anything anyone can do. Gandhi shows this is the essence of leadership.
Leadership
skill isn’t something we are born with. It comes with clarity of mind on what
we actually stand for. People will follow you even from the enemy brigade
if you yourself have
the
will power and adherence to your ideologies. Your vision needs to be crystal
clear for you to recognise ways in
which you can reach there. To be able to stand straight infront of any challenge
that might come up during any time period in the right apt
way requires you to have a roper understanding of what you
believe in. Gandhiji didn’t create the non violence movement. He was the propagator of an age old forgotten
tradition that eventually bought us our
freedom. Also, the way our hearts break seeing the revolts among Hindu-Muslim communities during partition is the
perfect example of how the movie impacts us in 3 hour run, and the man Gandhi becomes nothing short of a Bapu/Father
figure who we subconsciously starts following somewhere in between this 3 hours.
The movie also taught me one more valuable 21st century lesson- The lesson of friendship. The way bapu is always valuing his friends, no matter what colour or race, or nationality- no matter if they have something in return to offer or not, is the perfect example of how relationships need to be. Jawahar Lal Nehru is quiet young compared to Gandhi and Gandhi’s most Ashram residents are not even Indians. Yet Gandhi shows how ideas and mind can transcend over everything else. And how with right people by your side even a 100 year old imperialism can come to closure.
But, even with this Copy Book Presentation of a gripping and strong script, Gandhi movie without doubt left an ever lasting impression in my heart. And I promise myself to rewatch every now and then when I find myself lacking motivations- because like Gandhi said- “Men are created for greater purposes and we sometimes forgets that”.
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