BIFFes 2019: 150 Years of the Mahatma

As an early commemoration of Mahatma Gandhi’s 150^th birth anniversary this year, BIFFes had a section dedicated to the Mahatma. Four films were screened as part of this special: two Kannada, one Hindi and one English.

First up was The Making of the Mahatma (1996) by Shyam Benegal, a film that won acting and best film awards at the National Film Awards in 1996. This film focuses on Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi as a London-trained barrister who faces racism in South Africa, where he fights for the rights of Asian labourers.

The second feature, ‘Gandhi, My Father’ by Feroze Abbas Khan (2007), a film that focuses on Gandhi’s son, Harilal, won critical acclaim at many international film festivals, including Tokyo IFF and Asia-Pacific Screen awards.

The Kannada films on Gandhi were Girish Kasaravalli’s ‘Koormavatara’ (2011) and ‘Gandhi Devi’ (2018) by Naganatha M Joshi.

Moviegoers were in for a surprise to see someone in character for the promotion of these films. Interestingly, the most well-known Gandhi biopic featuring Sir Ben Kingsley as Gandhi was missing from the selection.