Richard Attenborough's 'Gandhi': Lesser known facts about the film

On Gandhi Jayanti today, we salute The Father of the Nation- Mahatma Gandhi. We remember Bapu and list down a few lesser known facts about the Oscar winning film based on his life- 'Gandhi'.

Directed and produced by Richard Attenborough, 'Gandhi' was released in India on November 30, 1982. The film released a few days later on December 3 in the United Kingdom and three days later on December 6 in the United States of America. The film had a grand premiere in the UK on December 2, 1982 at the Royal Premiere at the Odeon Leicester Square in London. The film's premiere was attended by Prince Charles and his then wife Princess Diana. Apparently, 'Gandhi' had a limited release in the US initially but that was later followed by a wider release in January 1983.

'Gandhi' was nominated for Academy Awards in eleven categories out of which it won eight awards. Richard Attenborough won the Oscar for Best Director. The film also won the Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, Best Film Editing, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design that went to Bhanu Athaiya and the Best Actor Award that went to Ben Kingsley who played Mahatma Gandhi in the film.

'Gandhi' was director Richard Attenborough's dream project and he waited for several years to finally complete it. According to news reports two previous attempts at filming 'Gandhi' had already failed. In 1952, Gabriel Pascal, a Hungarian film producer and director had secured an agreement with the Prime Minister of India at that time, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru to produce a film on Mahatma Gandhi's life. However, Pascal passed away in 1954 and the film could not be made.

Apparently Richard Attenborough took almost 18 years to make a film on 'Gandhi'. Efforts paid eventually when the film won both critical acclaim and commercial success. Apparently the story goes like this. In 1962 Attenborough received a phone call from Motilai Kothari, an Indian-born civil servant working with the Indian High Commission in London and a devout follower of Gandhi. Kothari insisted that Attenborough meet him to discuss a film about Gandhi. Attenborough read Louis Fischer's biography of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and agreed. Attenborough met then Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru and his daughter Indira Gandhi through a connection with Lord Louis Mountbatten, the last Viceroy of India. Nehru had apparently approved of the film and promised to help support its production, but his death in 1964 was one of the film's many setbacks. Finally when the film was made, Attenborough dedicated it to the memory of Kothari, Mountbatten and Nehru.

The director of the critically acclaimed film 'The Bridge on the River Kwai', David Lean had also planned to make a film on the life of Mahatma Gandhi. He had planned to start making the film after finishing 'The Bridge on the River Kwai' reportedly with Alec Guinness as Gandhi. However, it is rumoured that the project was abandoned and the makers decided to make 'Lawrence of Arabia' instead. What is interesting here is Attenborough had even approached David Lean with his own Gandhi project in the late 1960s that Lean had agreed to direct offering Attenborough the lead role in the film. However, David Lean got busy with another project during which Motilai Kothari passed away and the project in the end fell apart.

That wasn't the last time that Attenborough faced trouble completing his dream film. Attenborough again attempted to resurrect the project in 1976 with backing from Warner Brothers. However, then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi declared a state of emergency in India that made shooting impossible for the project. Finally in 1980 Attenborough was able to secure both the funding and locations needed to make the film. Co-producer of the film Rani Dube persuaded Indira Gandhi to provide $10 million from the National Film Development Corporation of India as the film was falling short on the budget.

Finally shooting for the film began and it took approximately six months to finish shooting. The film made into the Guinness Book of World Records as over 3 lakh extras were used in the funeral scene alone! The casting of the film also created a buzz, as who would play the role of Mahatma Gandhi made headlines. Putting all the speculations a rest, actor Ben Kingsley was chosen to play the part of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. It is interesting to note that Ben Kingsley is partly of Indian heritage as his father was Gujarati and his birth name was Krishna Pandit Bhanji.