B’bay was lashed by incessant rains yesterday. A good enough excuse, to be let off early. Boy, how good it feels to be home early! I got to do many things that I’ve kept pending. Whished it’d rain as heavily today so that all means of transport is disrupted an it’d be declared a holiday…a wish, if came true, would have come as a relief to all those who work 6 days a week.
Anyway, complaints apart, I went for ‘Gandhi, My Father’ yesterday with my friend. It is based on a thought provoking play called ‘Mahatma vs Gandhi’ by Feroz Khan. It gives a microscopic view of a patriarchal relationship between Bapu and Hiralal, his son. At one level the film coaxes you to debate the success of Bapu as a father, and on the other, question the resistance of his son towards his father’s beliefs. This movie is definitely one of the most affecting movies of its time.
I would be surprised if a person does not discuss about the movie after watching it.
The statement “To people he was a father, To his son he was a father he never had” – is the crux of the movie. Bapu’s struggle in the freedom of India is well known, but not many are aware of his personal sacrifices and the stormy relationship that he shared with his son. This is one of the few movies that shows how much Kasturba affected the lives of Bapu and her son. Kudos to Shefali. There are scenes where your heart goes out to the silent sufferings she has to undergo, being caught in the crossfire between two people she loves and cannot disown, being a mother and a wife. Darshan Jariwala as Bapu and Akshaye Khanna as the eldest son of Bapu have breathed life into a one of the darkest parts of Bapu’s life.
Having to live in the shadows of the person the whole world reveres, the constant anxiety to live up to the name that all nation chants is no mean feat. Hiralal’s anger in failing to do so & rebellion is beautifully portrayed by Akshaye Khanna. It leave room for debate about the success of Bapu as a father.
The pre independence era and the overall look and feel has been captured on celluloid in detail. The background music is first rate.
3 comments:
Problem with a movie like Gandhi is that you have to be in a certain mood to watch it - regardless of how good it is, which is a little sad given the quality of hindi cinema nowadays.
Other than Awarapan and to an extent Ek Chalis ki last local, I haven't been enthused by hindi cinema at all! I don't understand why directors want to re-make English movies very badly. Have they given up on originality?
oh! for tht matter bro i've heard that shootout at lokhandwala was taken very we;;. a resurrection for vivek oberoi. yes i do agree with you that movies like gandhi need a liking for that particular genre.
No it's not that I don't like those kind of movies. Just that I have to be in a certain mood to watch them.
Shootout was very mediocre. Vivek Oberoi was decent...but then after Company most movies in this genre seem rather mundane. I think mumbaites liked this movie more than others.
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