Rare facts about the Richard Attenborough classic - ‘Gandhi’ (1982) had been Richard Attenborough's dream project.
Before him, Gabriel Pascal, in 1952, had secured an agreement with the then Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, to produce a film on Gandhi. Pascal’s death in 1954 nullified the project.
David Lean and Sam Spiegel had also planned to make a biopic. Lean had even cast his favourite actor Alec Guinness as Gandhi, but the project was abandoned and ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ (1962), was taken up instead.
The shooting of Attenborough’s ‘Gandhi’ began on November 20, 1980, and ended on May 10, 1981. Dolly Thakore, was the casting director. Many known names were shortlisted for the lead part, but Ben Kingsley (alias Krishna Bhanji) got the call.
While the film showed Gandhi, the leader, in all his glory, there were voids when it came to depicting Gandhi, the man. Some important personalities such as Subhas Chandra Bose, Ambedkar and Bhagat Singh were left out, as well.
The film was criticised for its hagiographic depiction of the Mahatma. Wrote historian Lawrence James: "The film ... is pure hagiography, the late-twentieth-century equivalent of a mediaeval encomium of a remarkable saint rendered in words and illuminated pictures.”
Attenborough had prefixed a passage to the film, perhaps as preemptive justification for his narrative approach: “No man's life can be encompassed in one telling... least of all Gandhi's, whose passage through life was so entwined with his nation's struggle for freedom.
There is no way to give each event its allotted weight, to recount the deeds and sacrifices of all the great men and women to whom he and India owe such immense debts. What can be done is to be faithful in spirit to the record of his journey, and to try to find one's way to the heart of the man...”.
Approximately 300,000 extras were used for the opening sequence (the Mahatma’s funeral procession), which is still a world record.
‘Gandhi’ received 8 Oscars—for the Best Picture, Best Actor (Ben Kingsley), Best Director ( Richard Attenborough), Best Art Direction (Stuart Craig, Bob Laing, Michael Seirton), Best Cinematography (Billy Williams, Ronnie Taylor), Best Costume Design (Bhanu Athaiya, John Mollo), Best Editing (John Bloom) and Best Original Screenplay (John Briley). Even though Ravi Shankar was nominated for the Best Music, he did not land the statuette.
Two other films were later made on Gandhi (‘Making of the Mahatma’ and ‘Gandhi My Father’), which spoke of two different aspects of Gandhi’s personality, but the 1982 biopic reigns supreme on the list of Gandhi biopics.
Before him, Gabriel Pascal, in 1952, had secured an agreement with the then Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, to produce a film on Gandhi. Pascal’s death in 1954 nullified the project.
David Lean and Sam Spiegel had also planned to make a biopic. Lean had even cast his favourite actor Alec Guinness as Gandhi, but the project was abandoned and ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ (1962), was taken up instead.
The shooting of Attenborough’s ‘Gandhi’ began on November 20, 1980, and ended on May 10, 1981. Dolly Thakore, was the casting director. Many known names were shortlisted for the lead part, but Ben Kingsley (alias Krishna Bhanji) got the call.
While the film showed Gandhi, the leader, in all his glory, there were voids when it came to depicting Gandhi, the man. Some important personalities such as Subhas Chandra Bose, Ambedkar and Bhagat Singh were left out, as well.
The film was criticised for its hagiographic depiction of the Mahatma. Wrote historian Lawrence James: "The film ... is pure hagiography, the late-twentieth-century equivalent of a mediaeval encomium of a remarkable saint rendered in words and illuminated pictures.”
Attenborough had prefixed a passage to the film, perhaps as preemptive justification for his narrative approach: “No man's life can be encompassed in one telling... least of all Gandhi's, whose passage through life was so entwined with his nation's struggle for freedom.
There is no way to give each event its allotted weight, to recount the deeds and sacrifices of all the great men and women to whom he and India owe such immense debts. What can be done is to be faithful in spirit to the record of his journey, and to try to find one's way to the heart of the man...”.
Approximately 300,000 extras were used for the opening sequence (the Mahatma’s funeral procession), which is still a world record.
‘Gandhi’ received 8 Oscars—for the Best Picture, Best Actor (Ben Kingsley), Best Director ( Richard Attenborough), Best Art Direction (Stuart Craig, Bob Laing, Michael Seirton), Best Cinematography (Billy Williams, Ronnie Taylor), Best Costume Design (Bhanu Athaiya, John Mollo), Best Editing (John Bloom) and Best Original Screenplay (John Briley). Even though Ravi Shankar was nominated for the Best Music, he did not land the statuette.
Two other films were later made on Gandhi (‘Making of the Mahatma’ and ‘Gandhi My Father’), which spoke of two different aspects of Gandhi’s personality, but the 1982 biopic reigns supreme on the list of Gandhi biopics.
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