The Making of the Mahatma (1996)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Shyam Benegal

Writer:

Fatima Meer (script)

Release Date:

26 April 1996 (South Africa)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Resistance without violence. Confrontation without enemies. Victory without losers.

Plot:

One of two feuding Mohammedan cousins living in Britain but of Indian origin seek the assistance of...

Plot Keywords:

Mahatma Gandhi | Character Name In Title

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Rajit Kapoor	...	Barrister Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
Pallavi Joshi	...	Kasturba Gandhi
Paul Slabolepszy	...	JC Smuts
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Sean Cameron Michael	...	Warder (as Sean Michael)
Charles Pillai
Keith Stevenson

Also Known As:

Apprenticeship of a Mahatma

Runtime:

USA:144 min

Country:

South Africa | India

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Australia:M

Company:

Prime Time Television

Great 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.