Ben Kingsley played the role of Mahatma in the film 'Gandhi'.
Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated on 30 January 1948. But killing his ideas is almost impossible. The whole world knows India as the country of Gandhi. Many people say that Richard Attenborough's film 'Gandhi' did the work of popularizing Gandhi across the world. For this Richard worked hard for 20 years.
Richard came to India several times in connection with this film. Met many people associated with 'Gandhi'. Nehru was among these people. Lord Mountbatten had advised him to meet Nehru. Richard came to India for the first time in 1963 and met Nehru. Telling him my vision, he asked for his approval. Nehru gave approval and said:
Gandhi had many flaws. Richard, give us that. That is the mark of a man's greatness.
Richard tells that he went to meet Nehru for tea. There were many talks about 'Gandhi' here. Richard went out and started looking for a taxi. Then Nehru's voice came from behind:
Richard, one more thing. Don't show him as God in your film. That's what we did with them here. He was too great a person to be made God.
After this meeting Nehru died in 1964. It seemed that 'Gandhi' was left on the back burner. But Richard was doing his job. No one was ready to invest money on his film. With great difficulty the film found a producer. But money was falling short. After this Richard came to meet Indira Gandhi. Here he explained his budget related problems. Indira had a solution to this problem. It was decided that the National Film Development Corporation of India (NFDC) would give one-third of the money spent on 'Gandhi' as a loan. At that time this money was around 7 million dollars (though at some places this amount is also found to be 10 million), which 7 million is equal to 58 crore rupees as per today. According to that time, this amount was around Rs 7 crore.
Indira government opposed this decision. Gandhians were the first to protest. In the making video of the film 'Gandhi', Richard explains:
Gandhians did not want a film to be made on Mahatma Gandhi. Letters were written against the film. It was written in a letter that no human being can become Gandhi. If you want to make a film then you can show his character in the form of Roshni.
Indira government's funding for the film 'Gandhi' became a big issue. There was a debate in Parliament. Questions were raised on the intentions of the film. There was talk of its political benefits. The government was asked why it was bearing the expenses of the film.
According to a report published in the New York Times, the angry public wrote letters to a newspaper named Patriot. It was said that Britain and America are conspiring against us, so that they can earn profit by looting our culture. 20 filmmakers including Muzaffar Ali, Basu Chatterjee, Girish Karnad and Saeed Mirza wrote a letter to the IB Ministry. He criticized the investment of government money in the film. The matter even reached the court. A petition was filed against Richard Attenborough in the Bombay High Court. But the decision came in favor of Richard. He had received the green signal from the government.
After this the film was made and what a wonder it was. It received 11 nominations at the Oscars. Out of these, the film won 8 Oscars.
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