Splendid biopic about the lawyer who became the prestigious leader of the Indian revolts against the British through his philosophy of non-violence

Rating: 8/10 (31 October 2013)

Biography of Mohandas K. 'Mahatma Gandhi' , the lawyer who became the famed leader of the Indian revolts against the British rule through his philosophy of nonviolent protest . Gandhi (excellent Ben Kingsley) realizes that the laws are biased against Indians and decides to start a non-violent protest campaign for the rights of all Indians in South Africa . Gandhi returns to India in 1915, when he has now abandoned his western clothing for more basic self-made garb of shawls and loincloths . Too weak from World War II to continue enforcing its will in India, Britain finally grants India's independence . Indians celebrate this victory, but their troubles are far from over. He is asked by prominent Indian figures of the day, such as Jawaharlal Nehru (Roshan Seth) , Sardar Vallabhai Patel (Saeed Jaffrey) and Mohammad Ali Jinnah (Padamsee) , to join the fight for Indian independence from the British, despite some within that group believing Gandhi's methods ineffective . Religious tensions between Hindus and Muslims erupt into nation-wide violence. Gandhi declares a hunger strike . All events leading to his assassination in 1948 .
It's an enjoyable historical drama story where the protagonist , Ben Kingsley , is awesome . Ben Kingsley looked so much like Mohandas K. Gandhi, many natives thought him to be Gandhi's ghost , Kingsley was recommended for the role by Harold Pinter, who had seen him in a play. This exciting , overproduced and immortal story is plenty of emotion , realized in documentary style , though sometimes results to be overlong . It is an epic and moving tale , as the starring fights violent forces , taking on the risks to survive in a world surrounded by hatred , racism and intolerance . The script relies heavily on the Gandhi life but it doesn't originate boring . It's a brilliant story and though is slow-moving , isn't tiring . Ample support cast formed by notorious secondaries playing brief roles , many of them performing historical characters , such as Candice Bergen as photographer Margaret Bourke-White , Edward Fox as General Dyer , John Gielgud as Lord Irwin , Trevor Howard as Judge Broomfield , John Mills as The Viceroy , and Indian actors such as Saeed Jaffrey as Sardar Patel , Alyque Padamsee as Mohammed Ali Jinnah , Om Puri , Amrish Puri as Khan and Roshan Seth as Pandit Nehru . Furthermore , uncredited Daniel Day Lewis , Dominic Guard , Richard Griffiths , Bernard Hill and John Ratzenberger's brief scene ; being the last film of John Boxer and Sir John Clements. Lush cinematography woven into a rich and exotic tapestry from Ronnie taylor and Billy Williams . Sensitive score by George Fenton , including musical sounds with Hindu motives by Ravi Shankar . The picture was stunningly directed by Richard Attenborough , though no studio was interested in financing the film . Richard cited that most of the financing were solicited from Joseph E. Levine whom agreed to finance in exchange of Attenborough directing A bridge too far and Magic. Richard won the Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director for this film .
The motion picture was correctly based on historic events , these are the following : Gandhi returns to India in 1915 from South Africa , there he carries out the 'salt march' , he subsequently declares a hunger strike, saying he will not eat until the fighting stops . The fighting does stop eventually, but the country is divided . The actual division between the two new dominions was done according to what has come to be known as the 3 June Plan or Mountbatten Plan . The border between India and Pakistan was determined by a British Government-commissioned report usually referred to as the Radcliffe Line after the London lawyer, Sir Cyril Radcliffe, who wrote it. During 1947, after 350 years of occupying India, the British decide to leave, but not before separating Islamic Pakistan and secular India. Millions of Muslims crossed from India to Pakistan, while an equal number of Hindus, Sikhs, and Christians crossed over from the other side .Pakistan came into being with two non-contiguous enclaves, East Pakistan (today Bangladesh) and West Pakistan, separated geographically by India. India was formed out of the majority Hindu regions of the colony, and Pakistan from the majority Muslim areas. Countries of Modern Indian sub-continent . On 18 July 1947, the British Parliament passed the Indian Independence Act that finalized the partition arrangement. The newly formed governments were completely unequipped to deal with migrations of such staggering magnitude, and massive violence and slaughter occurred on both sides of the border. Estimates of the number of deaths range around roughly 500,000, with low estimates at 200,000 and high estimates 1.000.000. Gandhi spent his last days trying to bring about peace between both nations. He thereby angers many dissidents on both sides, one of whom finally gets close enough to assassinate him.