Feroz directed Gandhi My Father

‘GANDHI’S OUR CONSCIENCE’

The director and actor of the National Award-winning Gandhi, My Father, Feroz Abbas Khan & Darshan Jariwala, explain the rationale behind making the film, and why Gandhi and his thoughts are still relevant

MEDHA SHRI , Times News Network; 2-oct-2009

Feroz Abbas Khan’s Gandhi, My Father won accolades and bagged awards not just in India, but also at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards and the Tokyo Film Awards. Not just that, the film won admiration and praise from Nelson Mandela himself. More recently, Gandhi, My Father has become the talk of the town again for bagging three National film awards for 2007. “I had moved on after the movie,” says Feroz, the director. “The other awards were more timely.”

Feroz, who’s travelled across continents with his film and several plays, says that his plays generally, “deal with the Indian audience and people who are familiar with Indian culture.” But cinema, he explains, is a wider medium. “Thus, my film cuts across different nations and cultures as it deals with humanity and concerns that are universal.”

Though Gandhi, My Father is a period film that required Feroz to spend time in libraries and browse through autobiographies and letters, the movie appealed to the audience worldwide because it was contemporary, he believes. “The film is not about Gandhi and his son Harilal, but about a challenge that all parents face today – the aspirations of children, the parents’ limitations, and their constant effort to reconcile both. The problem is universal and that’s why it affects people in every corner of the world.”

Did he have any apprehensions about making a film on the personal life of a national icon? “I have been asked this question often,” says he. “I was never scared because I was in the pursuit of truth.” As for the ‘super censors,’ Feroz makes a point, “This is all political posturing in the garb of social policing. Whenever a political or any other group wants to attract attention, they do this. And we are soft targets because they know we will not retaliate. The publicity is great for them and they know the advantage that they get out of this.” The filmmaker adds that it’s sad that the government doesn’t do anything about it. “The singular responsibility of checking these people lies with the state. It’s the state’s abject failure to protect people’s rights,” he says vehemently.

So much is said about Gandhi – people like him, don’t like him, people attack him and put him on a pedestal “because they have vested interests. The real Gandhi is somewhere in between,” says Feroz. “A lot of it is political mudslinging, particularly by the right wing, which tries to negate his contribution. He stands for so many things that define the nation. He stands for responsibility, accountability, truth and a lot of what is right in the country. He is our moral conscience. Anything or anybody that doesn’t pass what I call the Gandhi Test, blames Gandhi because it makes them feel uncomfortable. No matter what you say, you’ll have a reference to Gandhi in India and other countries where he shaped the nation.” Feroz quotes Gopal Gandhi here – “Gandhi is the inconvenient truth.”

Feroz likes the other recent Gandhi film, Lagey Raho Munna Bhai. “It’s a novel way to convey the ideas and ideals of Gandhi to the younger generation. It’s an outstanding, entertaing film. It shows Gandhi as a nice person doing good to everybody,” says Feroz. He believes that sometimes, the problem with filmmakers is that they expect stars to act. When he approached Akshay Khanna, he told him, “You have to be an actor, not a star.” But that doesn’t mean he won’t make the musicals. He says, “My next film is again going to be something that I feel for and that I want to stand up and share with people. It can be a musical.”

Pics: Times Of India