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Gandhi my father - Notepad
Gandhi my father
quick review:
The movie is supposed to be about Harilal Mohandas Gandhi but ends up becoming about Gandhiji and India's freedom struggle. Though the audience is denied insight into the minds of the characters, they are given some brilliant performances by the lead cast.
This page has additional observations, other than the ones noted in the main review.
Plot Summary
The movie tries to portray the relationship between Gandhiji (Darshan Jariwala) and his oldest son, Harilal (Akshaye Khanna).
What Worked
- A silhoutte scene occurs twice in which Gandhiji and his son are shown meditating/discussing. The visual gives a very serene feel.
- The Gujrati folk songs sounded really refreshing.
What did not
Note: This section simply lists the things that I did not like in this movie. This is not the overall impression about this movie. Please read the full review here
- What were Gandhiji's motivations behind -
- Not allowing Harilal to get married. Why did he not explain it to Harilal?
- Accepting Harilal after having said that he would disown him.
- Not allowing Harilal to do his degree in law? Did he know that Harilal was not capable of it?
- What were Harilal's motivations behind -
- Joining Gandhiji's freedom movement more than once.
- Converting to a Muslim
- Visiting a prostitute and asking her to talk to him.
- The discussion about Gandhiji's freedom struggle between Gandhiji and Baa - the questions that Baa was asking sounded too naïve in the last few hours of her life. Especially, considering she had been involved in the freedom movement from the beginning.
- Who was Gandhiji lecturing at the time of partition in the alley, us the audience?
Nitty-Gritty
This section lists things that I think are not important to the overall impact of the movie. In most cases, it could be explained away by something like, "we noticed the glitch after the scene was shot and there were schedule/budget issues and thus we could not re-shoot it". I like giving the makers the benefit of doubt, but I am amused nevertheless. Hopefully, they will tickle you too.
- The boat scene in which Harilal reads his wife's letter - looked so artificial and out of place, they should have cut it out.
- All "bindis" and "tilaks" looked like they were marked using a lipstick on the characters' foreheads.
- There is a scene in which Gandhiji is shown sitting on a couch on a sea-shore. Couch on a sea-shore?!
- In the scene in which Harilal is drunk after having become a muslim. There is a scene in which there is rain pouring on the street. It looked like it was pouring only on parts of the street!
- In the same scene a flashlight shines on Harilal's eyes, but his eyes don't cringe one bit.
- The scene in which Gandhiji is preaching during partition, the set looked very artificial
Gandhi my father - Movie Details
- Official Sites: Website
- Director: Feroz Abbas Khan
- Lead Cast: Akshaye Khanna, Shefali Chhaya Shah, Darshan Jariwala
- Supporting Cast: Bhumika Chawla
- Screenplay: Feroz Abbas Khan
- Dialogues: Feroz Abbas Khan
- Music Director: Piyush Kanojia
- Reviewer: meetu
- Categories: Hindi Movies
- Genres: Biography, Family, Politics, Relationships
Gandhi my father - Trailer
Gandhi my father - All reviews summary
External Reviews
18 reviewers have given Gandhi my father an average rating of 3.3/5.0. 10 yays, 4 nays, 4 so-so. See all external reviews »
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Comments (13)
Review - Gandhi my father...
The movie is supposed to be about Harilal Mohandas Gandhi but ends up becoming about Gandhiji and India's freedom struggle. Though the audience is denied insight into the minds of the characters, they are given some brilliant performances by the lead ...
I had been watching the short trailers of ‘Gandhi, My Father’ in awe. There something about Gandhi that always catches my attention and something about the title- Gandhi, My Father….WOW! I just realized I knew nothing at
all about his children. Trying to remember what I had learnt in my history classes (most of which I slept through) did not prove fruitful either. I finally turned to the almighty- the net, the Internet! No luck, not much there either….
Read my full review here
Meetu, the left panel on these pages are overlapping on the
middle column, that is, on the review text... pl have it rectified...
subrat
I had great expectations from this movie based on the promos ....
but after reading your review I think I'll pass .... as is becoming usual.
By the by this movie does not appear on the list of movies critiqued (alphabetic sort)list. Error?
Thanks for pointing that out, Subrat. I think this site is having this particular problem with IE 6.0. We are trying to fix it, hopefully it will be done in the next 2-3 days. Please, do let me know if you are using some other browser.
Deepa, well, I would still recommend a watch on DVD, the performances themselves are worth it. Alphabetical listing - technical glitch, now fixed.
Deepa, I am in the same boat - the first few reviews that came out were glowing with praise, and I was looking forward to it. Now with Meetu's and also noting the 3/5 average in the "to each his own" I'll probably wait for DVD.
Subrat, the overlap should be fixed now. Please let us know if it is still happening.
Thanks Meetu, for fixing the 'glitch' on the page!
Sorry for intruding into the discussion without having seen
the film. One expression in it really struck me: 'why make
a movie about relationships without knowing the rationale
behind the characters’ behavior?' I completely agree...
Of all the 'Gandhi' films I have seen, I believe Shyam Benegal's
'Making of the Mahatma' stands out as the best in terms of
authencity of characters and situations, and also in terms of
'sense of history'.
More after I see the film...
thanks
subrat
Thanks for confirming that the overlapping has been fixed, Subrat!
Join the gang, I don't think anyone except Hetal and Anuja, and yours truly have seen the movie here. Waiting for your reaction to the movie, though.
About the rationale behind characters' behavior - I find it especially disturbing in a character driven script. E.g., we sort-of have learned to not carry this expectation in a "Partner" or a "Cash", but here we want to watch the movie only for the characters.
"Making of the Mahatma" on my ever-growing 'To watch' list. Thanks for the suggestion.
David McDonald has left us a very interesting comment which clarifies a few of my issues with the movie. Please chip in with what you think.
Meetu,
I stumbled on to your site sometime last month and now it has become a must-read for me. Thanks.
Regarding the movie - Gandhi - my Father - I think your rating should be Must See just for the fact that we rarely get to see such honest portrayals on screen in India. Another reason that it has to be Must See is because it gives us such a different view of Gandhi against the idealized, anglicized version of Attenborough's Gandhi.
I do agree with you that the film left many questions unanswered - especially what were the other three sons doing this period? didn't they have any interactions with Harilal? That probably troubled me the most - a family is more than a father and a mother - siblings form a important part, too.
Regarding the movie devoting more time to the Independence movement, I feel that a movie on Gandhi can never be devoid of that. It is so much a part & parcel of what defines him. I thought the director did a great job of just touching upon the most important events surrounding that and also managed to weave in his work on untouchability & Bramhacharya.
The performances, as you state, were truly outstanding. My favorite was Darshan Jariwala. His portrayal of the young Gandhi was simply outstanding. I, also,truly loved the cinematography in this films.
After reading Subrat's comment, I guess I have to see The Making of Mahatma.
Looking forward to more great reviews from you,
Jaya
Thanks, Jaya! Well, I think I have given my reasons for not liking the movie as much, so will avoid repeating myself.
Jaya, I am actually glad they did not show too much of the siblings, because that would distract further from the father-son relationship. In general, I like movies that stay with one or two main points. This movie was supposed to be about Harilal and his relationship with his father - I am glad they tried to stick to that as much as possible.
Thanks for taking the time to jot your thoughts down and keep coming!
[...] to find all movie reviews. Amitabh Bachchan too linked to her review. Gandhi, My Father’s cinematographer David McDonald was compelled to write a comment in response to her review. I, too usually agree with her movie [...]
i like this movie and your article is fabulous thanks a lot
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