Gandhi Jayanti: 5 films that made Mahatma Gandhi immortal!

Mahatma Gandhi, who was christened as the father of our nation, was undoubtedly one of the most intriguing personalities we have had in our history. So, naturally, many filmmakers over the course of time have either attempted to explore his life or tried to put his thoughts across through their films.

On the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti, let’s take a look at five such films through which the father of our nation will live forever:

Lage Raho Munna Bhai (2006)

This Sanjay Dutt-starrer Rajkumar Hirani directorial stresses on the importance of being truthful and using no violence via the means of a love story that is brewing between Dutt and Vidya Balan. Mahatma Gandhi makes frequent appearances as an aid to Sanjay Dutt’s Munna, who had been reading so much about the man that he ends up imagining Gandhi around him. The role of Gandhi in this film was played by Dilip Prabhavalkar. The film ended up winning four national awards.

Gandhi (1982)

This film focused on the struggle that freedom fighters like Gandhi and others went through to bring India it’s long overdue independence. This film was directed by Richard Attenborough and had Indian-British actor Ben Kingsley playing the role of Gandhi. Both Attenborough and Kingsley went home with Academy awards for this film.

Hey Ram (2000)

This semi-fictional Kamal Haasan-starrer revenge drama focuses on the partition time in India and the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi by Nathuram Godse. Kamal Haasan also directed and produced this film. Naseeruddin Shah played the part of Gandhi and the film won three national film awards.

Gandhi, My Father (2007)

This film was produced by Anil Kapoor and had Darshan Jariwala and Akshaye Khanna as Gandhi and his son Harilal Gandhi respectively. The film explored the strange relationship that the two shared and went on to become a very critically acclaimed film. A must watch!

Sardar (1993)

This film was primarily based on the life of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (played by Paresh Rawal) and, Gandhi (played by Anu Kapoor) played a very significant role in his life. The film focused on the clash of ideologies and Sardar was initially seen as mocking Gandhi’s ideas of non-violence and truthfulness, but then, eventually, he understands their importance. The film gave us a rare insight into the minds of the two people who were very crucial to India’s freedom