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Gandhi My Father
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'Gandhi My Father'

“One family’s tragedy was the price of a nation’s freedom,” says the tagline of Feroz Abbas Khan’s movie ‘Gandhi My Father’. The family in question is that of Mahatma Gandhi.

The movie is based on Feroz Abbas Khan’s play ‘Mahatma Vs Gandhi’. It tells the story of Gandhi’s eldest son Harilal Gandhi, who rebelled against his father.

The movie stars a host of talented actors. Akshaye Khanna , theatre actor Darshan Jariwala , Bhumika Chawla and Shefali Shah.

‘Gandhi My Father’ is presented by Anil Kapoor Films Company in association with EROS International. Theatre director Feroz Abbas Khan has directed the film.

Akshaye Khanna as Harilal

Gandhi
The film has Akshaye playing Harilal Gandhi, who had a very troubled relationship with his father and carried the identity of his father like a curse around his neck.

Darshan Jariwala as Mahatma Gandhi
Darshan Jariwala plays Mahatma Gandhi. Darshan is a versatile and veteran stage actor who has worked in about 50 plays and acted in films by noted directors like Ketan Mehta.

Shefali Shah as Kasturba Gandhi
Actress Shefali Shah plays the wife of Mohandas Gandhi. Kasturba raised her newborn son Harilal all by herself when Gandhi left to study in London in 1888. Later, she gave birth to three more sons.

Although Kasturba Gandhi stood by her husband, she did not always easily accept his ideas.

Bhumika Chawla plays Gulab Gandhi, the wife of Harilal.

Story

‘Gandhi My Father’ is the story of a principled father and an unfortunate son.

Somewhere in the shadows of Mahatma Gandhi lived his eldest son Harilal, who rebelled against his father’s idealistic principles and sought to live a life where he would not have to carry the burden of being the son of an exemplary figure like Mahatma Gandhi.

In open rebellion against his father’s ideals, Harilal converted to Islam and adopted the name Abdullah Gandhi. He also sought to remarry after the death of his first wife. All this prompted Mahatma Gandhi to disown his own son.

Even though Harilal later converted back to Hinduism, he lived the life of a derelict, roaming the streets of India like a beggar and finally drinking himself to death.

In Harilal’s words: “He (Mahatma Gandhi) is the greatest father you can have… But he is the one father I wish I did not have.”

In the director’s note, Feroz Abbas Khan writes that he was so fascinated by the human side of Gandhi, and Harilal’s turbulent relation with him that he did extensive research on the subject.

“Finally my search to know the human side of Gandhi took me to South Africa, to different parts of India, libraries, scholars and his immediate family members. I then decided to make a film about a principled father and an unfortunate son,” writes Khan.

‘Gandhi My Father’ is a cherished project of Anil Kapoor who has produced this film.

David MacDonald is the film’s cinematographer. Penny Smith has handled the make-up and hairstyling. Piyush Kanojia is the music composer.

The film is set to release on August 3, 2007.

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