18 reviewers have given Gandhi my father
an average rating of 3.3/5.0 (?)
Warning: clicking on "full review" will take you to an external website that could contain spoilers.
Thumbs down by Baradwaj Rangan, Blogical Conclusion, The New Sunday Express ...One thing that the film does manage...is to strip at least a few coats of whitewash off the Mahatma... full review
Thumbs up Bollyvista.com ...Performances of all the principal characters are superlative... full review
Thumbs up by Sanjay Ram, Business of Cinema ...the isolation of each character in each scene does nothing for the film.... full review
Thumbs up by Indu Mirani, DNA ...But there are times when the politics of the moment overtakes the personal strife, a distraction the film could do without.... full review
So-So by Aprajita Anil, Express India ...Even the chaos and pain has a beauty that keeps you hooked to the screen and David Macdonald deserves thumbs up for his gorgeous piece of art!... full review
Thumbs up by Martin D'Souza, Glamsham.com ... its plain to see the pain that has gone in making the setting as authentic as possible and giving the audience the feel of that particular ‘time and moment’... full review
Thumbs down by Rajeev Masand, IBN Live ...Practically every single scene in the film opens and closes with fade-ins and fade-outs, never quite seamlessly leading into each other... full review
Thumbs down by Vaibhav Wankhede, M TV ...you do feel like you're watching a play... full review
So-So by Amit R Agarwal, merinews ...Editing by Sreekar Prasad could have been sharper... full review
Thumbs up Movie Talkies ...The film is a marvelous effort in depicting this volatile relationship between a father and a son.... full review
Thumbs up by Prachi Singh, MovieWalah ...The cinematography department is fabulous and so is the background score of the movie.... full review
So-So by Ashok Nayak, Now Running.com ...A historical movie requires an earth shattering performance from the lead actors and that's exactly what we get.... full review
So-So by Subhash K Jha, Now Running.com ...One reason for this inadequacy is the director Feroz Abbas Khan's own creative battle.... full review
Thumbs up by Jahan Bakshi, Now Running.com ...deserve kudos for a bravura effort in bringing this beautiful father-son saga to the screen... full review
Thumbs down by kartik krishnan, Passion for Cinema ...Why does the South African settlement look like the sets of Wai - Maharasthra ?? Why are there Indian trees in the south african soil?... full review
Thumbs up by Syed Firdaus Ashraf, Rediff ...Shefali...Her helplessness at her failure to bridge the growing gap between father and son is palpable... full review
Thumbs up by Pankaj Shukla, SmasHits.com ...He doesn't play Mahatma; he plays Mohandas Karam Chand Gandhi, just a failed father (for his son)... full review
Thumbs up by Nikhat Kazmi, Times of India ...it showcases Akshaye Khanna's acting skills as never before... full review
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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