Gandhi Jayanti: Movies Inspired by Gandhiji

The 2nd of October is a very nostalgic time for all as we remember the great leader, the "Bapu" of India, Mahatma Gandhi. Known in general as Gandhi Jayanti, this day celebrates the birthday of the legendary Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. Paying special tribute to this special day, BollyCurry brings to you a few of the films, in no particular order, that have used sayings of Gandhiji or are inspired from Gandhiji to build a strong sense of courage, patriotism, and a strong will to achieve something good.

First in our list comes the 1982 epic biographical film Gandhi and the title, without doubt, says it all. The film is all about Gandhiji's life from a defining moment in 1893, as he is thrown off a South African train for being in a whites-only compartment, to his assassination and funeral in 1948. Though this was an English movie, it could be considered in our list for two reasons. One is that it depicted Gandhiji in it and secondly, and more importantly, it was a collaboration of British and Indian production companies. The movie has even highlighted a few quotes in concern with Gandhi: "No man's life can be encompassed in one telling. There is no way to give each year its allotted weight, to include each event, each person who helped to shape a lifetime. What can be done is to be faithful in spirit to the record and to try to find one's way to the heart of the man." The movie ends with the quote: "When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants, and murderers, and for a time they can seem invincible, but in the end they always fall. Think of it. Always." Truly inspirational indeed!

Next in the list is this 2007 movie which spoke about the complex and strained relationship of Mahatma Gandhi and his son, Harilal Gandhi. Showing portions of Gandhi's non-violent teachings and good reputation in society, the movie focuses on how Harilal was overshadowed by Gandhi's personality and he always feared the repercussions of making even a harmless mistake. Taken from true incidents, the film was highly appreciated for the complex yet challenging script and the performance of the cast. Given that this movie was full of inspirational Gandhi quotes and was completely inspired from Gandhi, we cannot name just one quote or dialogue. A must-watch to learn and understand Gandhiji and his philosophy!

This 2006 film was of the comedy genre, but a central premise of the film rests upon the relationship between Munna Bhai and the image of Mahatma Gandhi who teaches him the principles of Gandhian philosophy. Munna Bhai is an underworld don, yet is the only person who can see the spirit of Mahatma Gandhi. Through his interactions with the image of Gandhiji, Munna Bhai begins to practice what he refers to as 'Gandhigiri' to help ordinary people solve their problems. Lage Raho Munna Bhai became hugely popular for the term 'Gandhigiri' and its simple and modern way of portraying Gandhiji's teachings, and created a huge impact on the audience as well. This is one of the films which has taken inspirations of non-violence in a subtle manner. For example, when Lucky Singh slaps Munna Bhai on the cheek, instead of responding with a punch or a kick, Munna Bhai simply turns his other cheek towards Lucky Singh. By the end of this movie, even you'll be preaching Gandhigiri just like Munna Bhai.

This 2004 Shah Rukh Khan movie has quite a lot of similarities, or rather inspirations from Mahatma Gandhi, whether it be the script or the central character's name 'Mohan', which was infact the birth name of Gandhi. Quite similar to Gandhi, Mohan is a NRI working as a Project Manager at NASA. He had been a student at the University of Pennsylvania, an Ivy League school. After 12 years in the US, he decides to return to his village, in India to find his nanny, Kaveri Amma, with whom he has lost touch. Along the way, he meets a number of interesting people from the village called Charanpur, where Kaveri Amma now lives. Here begins his journey where he explores various practices and injustices happening and fights against all odds to stop them. He begins practicing Gandhian policies too. Not to forget is that the film opens with a Gandhi quote: "Hesitating to act because the whole vision might not be achieved, or because others do not yet share it, is an attitude that only hinders progress."

Though not mentioned anywhere as being inspired by Gandhi, one movie that definitely belongs on list, albeit in a subtle manner, is the 2001 released Aamir Khan starrer Lagaan. Its because we feel that the invasion of British rulers and the journey of the villagers to stop the tax was quite similar to the struggles owned by Gandhi himself. Here instead of a non-violence moment, the whole scenario is depicted in the form of a cricket match between the English team and a team formed by the villagers. Yet still, it shows the way these villagers choose to stand up against the British because they bring to light one point that Gandhi had made once: "Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will." The villagers had an indomitable will and that is why they won against the British rule and unjust taxes.

Bringing the article to an end is the latest released multi-starrer political thriller Satyagraha. The film properly begins with a quote from Mahatma Gandhi's autobiography "My Experiments With Truth." The title clearly states that the main plot of the movie revolves around the struggles of common people amongst the corrupt politicians and a peaceful method they employ to fight against them. These were all principles of Gandhi and thus for us, at BollyCurry, this movie is strongly associated with Gandhi.

We can talk endlessly about Gandhiji, however, we just wouldn't have enough space to do so. And we don't want to waste more time by talking about the movies, as we feel you learn by practicing, not by studying or reading. So as this writer signs off, she hopes that you're feeling inspired and will once again bring those simple Gandhi principles back into your life, which seem to have gone missing somewhere in our rapidly westernizing society.