Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, who is also known as the Father of the Nation is famous for the Indian freedom struggle.
Today as we celebrate the 152nd birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, lets take a look at the Bollywood movies that were based on him.
1- Lage Raho Munnabhai
One of the most entertaining movies, Lage Raho Munnabhai, starring Sanjay Dutt shows Mahatma Gandhi as a very important character in the movie. Marathi actor Dilip Prabhavalkar plays the role of Gandhi Ji in the movie. This was the first film to focus on Gandhian principles instead of Gandhi and connected the audience to his beliefs. With the mention of Gandhigiri, the film manages to make Gandhi appear more human in comparison to other films.
2- Gandhi My Father
Darshan Zariwala plays Bapu in Anil Kapoor‘s Gandhi My Father. The film focuses on his personal life rather than his political one and shows how despite being Nation’s father, he could not be a good father to his son, Harilal Gandhi. The film is based on the complex father-son relationship.
3- Veer Savarkar
Veer Savarkar, Legend of Bhagat Singh, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose: showed Surendra Rajan playing the role of Mahatma Gandhi. These were the films where Gandhi wasn’t the main character and all of them show Gandhi in a negative light with his contradicting philosophies.
4- Hey Ram
Popular actor Mohan Gokhale was roped in to play Gandhi ji for Kamal Hassan‘s Hey Ram but unfortunately the actor passed away in middle of the shooting schedule and was later replaced by Naseeruddin Shah. The actor picked up Gandhi’s Gujarati accent and body language, transforming himself completely in the process. ‘Hey Ram’ were the last words uttered by Gandhi before he was assassinated. The film shows Gandhi in a negative light till the climax where things turn good for his image.
5- Babasaheb Ambedkar
Jabber Patel’s biography on Babasaheb Ambedkar is one of the first films to show Gandhi in a negative light. Mohan Gokhale plays Gandhi’s character in the film and the director shows how Gandhi used his non-cooperation policy and fasting strategies to emotionally blackmail and get things done.Â
