Gandhi (1982)

The life of the lawyer who became the famed leader of the Indian revolts against the British rule through his philosophy of nonviolent protest.

Director:

Richard Attenborough

Writer:

John Briley

Stars:

Ben Kingsley, John Gielgud, Rohini Hattangadi

Won 8 Oscars. Another 27 wins & 21 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ben Kingsley	...	Mahatma Gandhi
Rohini Hattangadi	...	Kasturba Gandhi (as Rohini Hattangady)
Roshan Seth	...	Pandit Nehru
Candice Bergen	...	Margaret Bourke-White
Edward Fox	...	General Dyer
John Gielgud	...	Lord Irwin
Trevor Howard	...	Judge Broomfield
John Mills	...	The Viceroy
Martin Sheen	...	Walker
Ian Charleson	...	Charlie Andrews
Günther Maria Halmer	...	Herman Kallenbach (as Gunter Maria Halmer)
Athol Fugard	...	General Smuts
Saeed Jaffrey	...	Sardar Patel
Geraldine James	...	Mirabehn
Alyque Padamsee	...	Mohamed Ali Jinnah

Storyline

In 1893, Mohandas K. Gandhi is thrown off a South African train for being an Indian and traveling in a first class compartment. Gandhi realizes that the laws are biased against Indians and decides to start a non-violent protest campaign for the rights of all Indians in South Africa. After numerous arrests and the unwanted attention of the world, the government finally relents by recognizing rights for Indians, though not for the native blacks of South Africa. After this victory, Gandhi is invited back to India, where he is now considered something of a national hero. He is urged to take up the fight for India's independence from the British Empire. Gandhi agrees, and mounts a non-violent non-cooperation campaign of unprecedented scale, coordinating millions of Indians nationwide. There are some setbacks, such as violence against the protesters and Gandhi's occasional imprisonment. Nevertheless, the campaign generates great attention, and Britain faces intense public pressure. Too weak...

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Plot Keywords:

india | peace | british india | surname as title | independence | 

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Taglines:

A WORLD EVENT It took one remarkable man to defeat the British Empire and free a nation of 350 million people. His goal was freedom for India. His strategy was peace. His weapon was his humanity.

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | History

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Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

It was Michael Attenborough, Sir Richard Attenborough's son, who recommended Sir Ben Kingsley to his father.

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Goofs

The Calcutta killings are shown as having happened after Indian independence in August 1947, whereas they actually took place a year earlier in August 1946.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Hindu: He will be saying prayers in the garden. Just follow the others.

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Crazy Credits

The producers express their thanks in the closing credits to The National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of India for the use of its grounds and exteriors for filming locations.

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Alternate Versions

The original theatrical release had an intermission at approximately 1 hour 31 minutes in. The second part of the film was preceded by a 3 minute musical interlude over a black screen. Most subsequent releases omitted the intermission. The DVD release includes the Intermission title card and musical interlude.

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Connections

Referenced in The Crow: Wicked Prayer (2005)

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Soundtracks

Raghupati Raghava Raja Ram
Written by Mohandas K. Gandhi

User Reviews

A great epic; Kingsley's best performance

As soon as I finished watching Gandhi, I thought to myself "This movie had to have won Best Picture." I think it's one of the best epics of all time. It masterfully tells one of the most important stories of the 20th century, that of India's struggle to free itself, spearheaded by one of the most extraordinary men of all time, Mahatma Gandhi. I would be hard pressed to name anything lacking about it. Direction, cinematography, costumes, they're all great. And Ben Kingsley! Without a doubt his portrayal of Gandhi is one of the best performances of his career, if not THE best. Playing the pacifist Indian lawyer-turned-leader couldn't have been an easy task, and I don't think anyone could have pulled it off as well as he did. This movie deserves all the praise anyone gives it and more. Excellent.

Details

Country:

UK India Pakistan Bangladesh Sri Lanka Nepal Myanmar USA South Africa

Language:

English Hindi

Release Date:

25 February 1983 (USA)

Also Known As:

Richard Attenborough's Film: Gandhi

Filming Locations:

Delhi, India

Box Office

Budget:

$22,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$131,153, 12 December 1982

Gross USA:

$52,767,889

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$52,767,889

Company Credits

Production Co:

International Film Investors, National Film Development Corporation of India (NFDC), Goldcrest Films International

Technical Specs

Runtime:

191 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Stereo (35 mm prints) 70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) Dolby Atmos

Color:

Color Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1