Eminent Example of a Faithful Biography

Rating: 9/10 (23 August 2012)

I longed to watch this film for long. On the quiet afternoon of the 65th Independence Day of India, I surfed through the channels to find something interesting to watch. I am lucky to have found this film on Sony Pix at the very beginning. Running for over three hours, the film tries to encompass Gandhi's enthralling life on the celluloid and dazzlingly succeeds.
Firstly, the art direction of the film hits the right chords and creates a wonderful period look with the excessively still camera and the silent, bygone look of the surroundings. A great deal of efforts is evidently gone in replicating the locations. The cinematography is clear cut and captures the life of the Mahatma incandescently and eloquently.
Richard Attenborough's dream project is one of the few films that are outright "must see". His direction is fabulous and his biggest trump card is the tremendous amount of research gone into the making. The detail with which it unravels the life of Gandhi is enrapturing; kudos to Attenborough. Ben Kingsely is cast in the coveted role of a lifetime and he is phenomenal throughout. With the makeup that strongly resembles the real life Mohandas, he walks and talks very much like him. He drowns himself under the skin of his character and comes up with a performance that levitates and stays with you for long. Rohini Hattangadi is a talented performer who impressed in her special appearance in "Arth". She is exceptional in this film and creates a distinct space for herself among the overwhelming amount of supporting actors. All the actors that portray the historic figures like Jinnah, Nehru, Abdul Azad and Patel are wonderful.
The film, obviously, leaves some important events of his life and neglects all the criticisms he faced after the second round table conference but it is historically accurate in whatever pages it depicts. The film is an eminent example of a well-told faithful biography. Much is said in detail about the film by other learned reviewers and hence, I sum up by strongly recommending this film.