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Gandhi

  • 19821982
  • PGPG
  • 3h 11m
IMDb RATING
8.0/10
234K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
2,758
417
Gandhi (1982)
A biography of Mahatma Gandhi, the lawyer who became the famed leader of the Indian revolts against the British through his philosophy of non-violent protest.
Play trailer5:09
4 Videos
99+ Photos
BiographyDramaHistory
The life of the lawyer who became the famed leader of the Indian revolts against the British rule through his philosophy of nonviolent protest.The life of the lawyer who became the famed leader of the Indian revolts against the British rule through his philosophy of nonviolent protest.The life of the lawyer who became the famed leader of the Indian revolts against the British rule through his philosophy of nonviolent protest.
IMDb RATING
8.0/10
234K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
2,758
417
    • Richard Attenborough
    • John Briley
  • Stars
    • Ben Kingsley
    • John Gielgud
    • Rohini Hattangadi
    • Richard Attenborough
    • John Briley
  • Stars
    • Ben Kingsley
    • John Gielgud
    • Rohini Hattangadi
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 335User reviews
    • 111Critic reviews
    • 79Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Top rated movie #249
    • Won 8 Oscars

    Videos4

    Gandhi: Trailer
    Trailer 5:09
    Watch Gandhi: Trailer
    Gandhi
    Trailer 5:01
    Watch Gandhi
    Gandhi
    Clip 1:52
    Watch Gandhi
    Gandhi
    Clip 1:59
    Watch Gandhi

    Photos125

    Ben Kingsley in Gandhi (1982)
    Gandhi (1982)
    Ben Kingsley in Gandhi (1982)
    Gandhi (1982)
    Ben Kingsley and Rohini Hattangadi in Gandhi (1982)
    Martin Sheen and Ben Kingsley in Gandhi (1982)
    Peter Harlowe and Roshan Seth in Gandhi (1982)
    Ben Kingsley and Terrence Hardiman in Gandhi (1982)
    Gandhi (1982)
    Ben Kingsley in Gandhi (1982)
    Candice Bergen, Ben Kingsley, Rohini Hattangadi, and Geraldine James in Gandhi (1982)
    Ben Kingsley in Gandhi (1982)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Ben Kingsley
    Ben Kingsley
    • Mahatma Gandhi
    John Gielgud
    John Gielgud
    • Lord Irwin
    Rohini Hattangadi
    Rohini Hattangadi
    • Kasturba Gandhi
    • (as Rohini Hattangady)
    Roshan Seth
    Roshan Seth
    • Pandit Nehru
    Candice Bergen
    Candice Bergen
    • Margaret Bourke-White
    Edward Fox
    Edward Fox
    • General Dyer
    Trevor Howard
    Trevor Howard
    • Judge Broomfield
    John Mills
    John Mills
    • The Viceroy
    Martin Sheen
    Martin Sheen
    • Walker
    Ian Charleson
    Ian Charleson
    • Charlie Andrews
    Günther Maria Halmer
    Günther Maria Halmer
    • Herman Kallenbach
    • (as Gunter Maria Halmer)
    Athol Fugard
    Athol Fugard
    • General Smuts
    Saeed Jaffrey
    Saeed Jaffrey
    • Sardar Patel
    Geraldine James
    Geraldine James
    • Mirabehn
    Alyque Padamsee
    Alyque Padamsee
    • Mohamed Ali Jinnah
    Amrish Puri
    Amrish Puri
    • Khan
    Ian Bannen
    Ian Bannen
    • Senior Police Officer
    Michael Bryant
    Michael Bryant
    • Principal Secretary
      • Richard Attenborough
      • John Briley
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    Double Take: Showstopping Biopic Transformations

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    [object Object]
    Photos

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Over 300,000 extras appeared in the funeral sequence. About 200,000 were volunteers, and 94,560 were paid a small fee (under contract). The sequence was filmed on January 31, 1981, the 33rd anniversary of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi's funeral. Eleven crews shot over 20,000 feet of film, which was pared down to two minutes and five seconds in the final release.
    • Goofs
      In the opening scene in South Africa, Gandhi is riding first class on a steam locomotive. The first class car is shown as the forward car, closest to the engine. In passenger steam engines, first class would be the rearmost car, farthest away from the engine's heat and exhaust. Second or third class would be nearest the engine.
    • Quotes

      Gandhi: An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind.

    • Crazy credits
      Opening credits prologue: No man's life can be encompassed in one telling. There is no way to give each year its allotted weight, to include each event, each person who helped to shape a lifetime. What can be done is to be faithful in spirit to the record and try to find one's way to the heart of the man....

      NEW DELHI INDIA 30th JANUARY 1948
    • Alternate versions
      In April 2005, Skoll launched the Gandhi Project in partnership with Silicon Valley entrepreneur Kamran Elahian. Working with Palestinian voice actors and artists, an award-winning director dubbed the epic film into Arabic. It is being screened throughout Palestine in order to advance civil society goals of peaceful resistance, self-reliance, economic development and local empowerment, and plans are underway to expand screenings throughout the Arab world.
    • Connections
      Featured in The Making of Gandhi: Mr. Attenborough and Mr. Gandhi (1983)
    • Soundtracks
      God Save the King!
      (1744) (uncredited)

      Music attributed to Henry Carey

      Sung by Ben Kingsley

      Reprised when India achieves independence

    User reviews335

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    Gandhi's Umpteenth Fast
    In her diary entry of Saturday, February 27, 1943, Anne Frank wrote in passing (translated from the Dutch): "The freedom-loving Gandhi of India is holding his umpteenth fast."

    It's a comment at once mildly comical and respectfully admiring, one I think the Mahatma would have appreciated with a twinkle and a laugh. He and Miss Frank are linked with the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., as the civil rights spokesperson-giants of the 20th century. And civil rights, and the reversal of the institutionalized violation of the same, are a large part of what the last century's politics were all about. Movie viewers are apt to find in the diary remark a distillation of their experience of the Richard Attenborough film. A recommendation is that it be followed by rentals of Saving Private Ryan and The Long Walk Home, which together convey the investment put into the respective causes the trio represented.

    At the beginning of Gandhi we confront these words: "No man's life can be encompassed in one telling. There is no way to give each year its allotted weight, to include each event, each person who helped to shape a lifetime. What can be done is to be faithful in spirit to the record, and to try to find one's way to the heart of the man...."

    John Briley's screenplay accomplishes that faithfulness, and one probably has to be a scholar of the subject to sort out what is his and what is Gandhi's. Not that it really is of relevance, given what we learn from the movie about the value of eclecticism. Looking out over the bay at Porbandar, Gandhi (Ben Kingsley) tells Walker (Martin Sheen): "The temple where you were yesterday is of my family's sect, the Pranami. It was Hindu of course, but the priests used to read from the Muslim Koran and the Hindu Gita, moving from one to the other as though it mattered not at all which book was read as long as God was worshipped." In a preceding scene, similarly, confronted by young toughs on a South African street, Gandhi defends for his Christian friend Charlie (Ian Charleson) the New Testament intelligence of turning the other cheek. A worried Charlie states, "I think perhaps the phrase was used metaphorically. I don't think our Lord meant...," and is interrupted by a movie shot of the approaching menace. Gandhi replies calmly, "I'm not so certain. I have thought about it a great deal. I suspect he meant you must show courage--be willing to take a blow--several blows--to show you will not strike back--nor will you be turned aside.... And when you do that it calls upon something...that makes...hate for you diminish and...respect increase. I think Christ grasped that and I...have seen it work."

    The script is replete with these kinds of memorable words, and with others that reflect its subject's political acumen and strategical cleverness.

    Kingsley is sublime in the lead role. Saeed Jaffrey, Roshan Seth, and Alyque Padamsee do well as Gandhi's pro-independence collaborators. Ditto, Athol Fugard ("Assuming we are in agreement?") and John Gielgud ("Salt?") as two of his adversaries. Charleson, in his clerical collar, looks like he has walked in off the set of the preceding year's Academy Award winner, Chariots of Fire (where he played the Scottish sprinter-missionary, Eric Liddell).

    This movie won eight Oscars, with Attenborough, Briley, and Kingsley all earning honors. No other film biography I ever have seen works so well. It will stand the test of time and inform multiple generations. One doubts remakes will be necessary.
    helpful•77
    20
    • Chris_Middlebrow
    • Sep 18, 2001

    FAQ8

    • What is 'Gandhi' about?
    • Is 'Gandhi' based on a book?
    • When did Richard Attenborough ask Candice Bergen to play this role in Gandhi?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • February 25, 1983 (United States)
      • United Kingdom
      • India
      • United States
      • South Africa
      • English
      • Hindi
    • Also known as
    • Filming locations
      • Old Town Hall, Staines, Surrey, England, UK
    • Production companies
      • International Film Investors
      • National Film Development Corporation of India (NFDC)
      • Goldcrest Films International
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

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    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • 3 hours 11 minutes
      • Color
      • Black and White
      • Dolby Atmos

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