Gandhi (1982)

Director:

Richard Attenborough

Writer:

John Briley (writer)

Release Date:

8 December 1982 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | History

Tagline:

His Triumph Changed The World Forever.

Plot:

Biography of Mahatma Gandhi, the lawyer who became the famed leader of the Indian revolts against the British through his philosophy of non-violent protest.

Plot Keywords:

India | Muslim | Pakistan | Protest | Independence

Awards:

Won 8 Oscars. Another 26 wins & 16 nominations

Cast

Ben Kingsley	...	Mohandas K. Gandhi
Candice Bergen	...	Margaret Bourke-White
Edward Fox	...	Gen. Reginald Dyer
John Gielgud	...	Lord Irwin
Trevor Howard	...	Judge Broomfield
John Mills	...	Lord Chelmsford
Martin Sheen	...	Vince Walker
Ian Charleson	...	Rev. Charlie Andrews
Athol Fugard	...	Gen. Jan Christiaan Smuts
Günther Maria Halmer	...	Dr. Herman Kallenbach (as Gunter Maria Halmer)
Saeed Jaffrey	...	Sardar Valabhhai Patel
Geraldine James	...	Mirabehn
Alyque Padamsee	...	Mohammed Ali Jinnah
Amrish Puri	...	Khan
Roshan Seth	...	Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru
Rohini Hattangadi	...	Mrs. Kasturba M. Gandhi (as Rohini Hattangady)
Ian Bannen	...	Senior Police Officer Fields
Michael Bryant	...	Principal Secretary
John Clements	...	Advocate General
Richard Griffiths	...	Collins
Nigel Hawthorne	...	Kinnoch
Bernard Hepton	...	G.O.C.
Michael Hordern	...	Sir George Hodge
Shreeram Lagoo	...	Professor Gokhale
Om Puri	...	Nahari
Virendra Razdan	...	Maulana Azad
Richard Vernon	...	Sir Edward Gait
Harsh Nayyar	...	Nathuran Godse
Prabhakar Patankar	...	Prakash
Vijay Kashyap	...	Apte
Nigam Prakash	...	Karkare
Supriya Pathak	...	Manu - Gandhi's Niece
Neena Gupta	...	Abha - Gandhi's Niece (as Nina Gupta)
Shane Rimmer	...	Radio Commentator at Funeral
Peter Harlowe	...	Lord Louis Mountbatten
Anang Desai	...	J.B. Kripalani
Winston Ntshona	...	South African Train Porter
Peter Cartwright	...	European Passenger
Marius Weyers	...	Conductor
Richard Mayes	...	Baker
Alok Nath	...	Tyeb Mohammed
Dean Gasper	...	Singh
Ken Hutchison	...	Police Sergeant
Norman Chancer	...	Reporter
Gulshan Kapoor	...	Rich Merchant
Charu Bala Chokshi	...	Ayah
Raj Chaturvedi	...	Harilal Gandhi
Avpar Jhita	...	Manilal Gandhi
Anthony Sagger	...	Ramdas Gandhi
David Gant	...	Daniels
Daniel Day-Lewis	...	Colin (as Daniel Day Lewis)
Ray Burdis	...	Youth
Daniel Peacock	...	Youth
Avis Bunnage	...	Colin's mother
Caroline Hutchison	...	Sonja Schlesin
Mohan Agashe	...	Tyeb Mohammed's Friend
Sudhanshu Mishra	...	Man in gallery
Dina Nath	...	Miner
John Savident	...	Manager of the Mine
John Patrick	...	Mounted Police Sergeant
Michael Godley	...	Clergyman
Stewart Harwood	...	Prison Officer
Stanley McGeagh	...	Prison Guard
Christopher Good	...	Young Englishman
David Markham	...	Older Englishman
Jyoti Sarup	...	Young Indian Reporter
John Naylor	...	English Reporter
Wilson George	...	American Reporter
Hansu Mehta	...	Older Indian Reporter
Sudarshan Sethi	...	Motilal Nehru
Sunila Pradhan	...	Mrs. Motilal Nehru
Moti Makan	...	Traveller on Train Roof
Jalal Agha	...	Traveller on Train Roof
Rupert Frazer	...	Cavalry Troop Leader
Manohar Pitale	...	Shukla
Homi Daruvala	...	Nehru's Friend
K.K. Raina	...	Nehru's Friend
Vivek Swaroop	...	Nehru's Friend
Raja Biswas	...	Nehru's Friend
Dominic Guard	...	Subaltern
Bernard Hill	...	Sergeant Putnam
Rama Kant Jha	...	Village Leader
Nana Palsikar	...	Villager
Alpna Gupta	...	Villager's Wife
Chandrakant Thakkar	...	Policeman
John Quentin	...	Batsman
Graham Seed	...	Wicket-Keeper
Keith Drinkel	...	Major
Bob Babenia	...	Police Guard (as Bob Barbenia)
Gerald Sim	...	Magistrate
Colin Farrell	...	Clerk
Sanjeev Puri	...	Young Man
Gareth Forwood	...	Secretary
Vijay Crishna	...	Chauffeur
Sankalp Dubey	...	Servant
James Cossins	...	Brigadier
Gurcharan Singh	...	Speaker in Jallianwalla Bagh
John Vine	...	A.D.C.
Geoffrey Chater	...	Government Advocate
Ernest Clark	...	Lord Hunter
Habib Tanvir	...	Indian barrister (as Habib Tanveer)
Pankaj Mohan	...	Mahadev Desai
Subhash Gupta	...	Policeman at Chauri Chaura
Aadil	...	Policeman at Chauri Chaura
Rajeshwar Nath	...	Marcher at Chauri Chaura
S.S. Thakur	...	Marcher at Chauri Chaura
Rahul Gupta	...	Boy with Goat
Barry John	...	Police Superintendant
Brian Oulton	...	Clerk of Court
James Snell	...	Court Reporter
John Boxer	...	Court Reporter
Gerard Norman	...	Court Reporter
Bernard Horsfall	...	General Edgar
Richard Leech	...	Brigadier
Pankaj Kapur	...	Pyarelal
Tarla Mehta	...	Sarojini Naidu
David Sibley	...	Subaltern
Dalip Tahil	...	Zia (as Daleep Tahil)
Stanley Lebor	...	Police Officer
Terrence Hardiman	...	Ramsay MacDonald
Monica Gupta	...	Little girl
Jon Croft	...	Colonel
William Hoyland	...	Adjutant
John Ratzenberger	...	American Lt., driver for Bourke-White
Jack McKenzie	...	Major at Aga Khan Palace
Tom Alter	...	Doctor at Aga Khan Palace
Jane Myerson	...	Lady Edwina Mountbatten
Roop Kumar Razdan	...	Hindu Youth at Ashram
Bani Sharad Joshi	...	Woman refugee
Vagish Kumar Singh	...	Man refugee
Dilsher Singh	...	Abdul Ghaffar Khan
Sudhir Dalvi	...	Police Commissioner (as Sudheer Dalavi)
Tilak Raj	...	Tahib
Irpinder Puri	...	Sushila Nayyar
Pren Kapoor	...	Hindu youth in Calcutta street
Vinay Apte	...	Hindu youth in Calcutta street
Aswani Kumar	...	Hindu youth in Calcutta street
Avinash Dogra	...	Hindu youth in Calcutta street
Shreedhar Joshi	...	Hindu youth in Calcutta street
Suhas Palshikar	...	Hindu youth in Calcutta street
Karkirat Singh	...	Nehru's aide
Shekhar Chatterjee	...	Suhrawardy
Amarjeet	...	Goondas (as Amargit)
Pratap Desai	...	Goondas
Bhatawadekar Prakash	...	Goondas
Sunil Shende	...	Goondas
Rovil Sinha	...	Goondas
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Derek Lyons	...	Radio Reporter at Funeral (uncredited)
Stephen M. Silverman	...	British officer (uncredited)

Directed by
Richard Attenborough

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
John Briley		writer

Produced by
Richard Attenborough	....	producer
Rani Dubé	....	co-producer
Suresh Jindal	....	associate producer
Michael Stanley-Evans	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Ravi Shankar

Cinematography by
Ronnie Taylor
Billy Williams

Film Editing by
John Bloom

Casting by
Susie Figgis

Production Design by
Stuart Craig

Art Direction by
Norman Dorme
Robert W. Laing		(supervising art director) (as Bob Laing)
Ram Yedekar

Set Decoration by
Michael Seirton

Costume Design by
Bhanu Athaiya
John Mollo

Makeup Department
Paula Gillespie	....	chief hair stylist
Tony Horsfield	....	assistant makeup artist
Vera Mitchell	....	assistant hair stylist
Connie Reeve	....	assistant makeup artist
Mariam Samuel	....	assistant hair stylist (as Miriam Samuel)
Mustaque Sheikh	....	assistant makeup artist
Tom Smith	....	makeup supervisor
John Webber	....	assistant makeup artist

Production Management
Rashid Abbasi	....	unit manager
Nassar Abdulla	....	assistant unit manager (as Nasir Abdullah)
Terence A. Clegg	....	executive in charge of production
Alexander De Grunwald	....	production manager
Devi Dutt	....	production manager: second unit
Shama Habibullah	....	production manager
Gerry Levy	....	unit manager
Grania O'Shannon	....	unit manager
P.V. Rao	....	assistant unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Bhisham Bhasin	....	assistant director
Roy Button	....	assistant director
Steve Lanning	....	assistant director
John Mathew Matthan	....	first assistant director: second unit (as John Matthew)
Govind Nihalani	....	second unit director
U.S. Pani	....	first assistant director: second unit
M.R. Shahjahan	....	assistant director
Kamal Swaroop	....	assistant director
David Tomblin	....	first assistant director
Peter Waller	....	assistant director
Julian Wall	....	assistant director

Art Department
Amal Allana	....	set dresser
Nissat Allana	....	set dresser (as Nissar Allana)
Roger Cain	....	draughtsman
Nobby Clark	....	stand-by rigger
G.D. Dixit	....	construction liaison (as G. Dixit)
Agnes Fernandes	....	assistant art director
Dick Frift	....	construction manager
Micky Guyett	....	stand-by painter (as Mickey Guyett)
Aruna Harprasard	....	set dresser (as Aruna Harprasad)
Vala Kothari	....	production buyer
Joe Lear	....	stand-by plasterer
Jill Quertier	....	set dresser
Jeff Reid	....	stand-by carpenter
Cliff Robinson	....	assistant art director
Tony Teiger	....	stand-by props
Charles Torbett	....	property master

Sound Department
Jonathan Bates	....	sound editor
Nigel Davis	....	boom operator
Taffy Haines	....	sound maintenance
Gerry Humphreys	....	dubbing mixer
Simon Kaye	....	sound recordist
Archie Ludski	....	dialogue editor
Robin O'Donoghue	....	dubbing mixer
Rajen Rajkhowa	....	sound assistant (as Rajan Rajkhowa)
Philip Rogers	....	sound recordist (uncredited)

Special Effects by
David H. Watkins	....	special effects supervisor (as David Watkins)

Stunts
Gerry Crampton	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Chic Anstiss	....	camera operator
Pablo Bartholomew	....	still photographer: second unit
G.S. Bhaskar	....	second assistant camera (as G.S. Bhasker)
Apurba Kishore Bir	....	second camera operator (as A.K. Bir)
Devlin Bose	....	second camera operator
Devlin Bose	....	second focus puller
Robin Browne	....	aerial photographer
Frank Connor	....	still photographer
Ted Deason	....	focus puller
Terry Goddard	....	best boy
Nobby Godden	....	camera maintenance
K. Kanti	....	focus puller: second unit
Ashwini Kaul	....	second assistant camera
Alan Martin	....	electrical supervisor
Govind Nihalani	....	camera operator
D. Panday	....	camera grip: second unit
Gyan Sahay	....	assistant camera: second unit
Danny Shelmerdine	....	clapper loader
Jimmy Waters	....	camera grip

Casting Department
Yog Batra	....	crowd casting
Soonu Ghadially	....	assistant casting: India
Shailendra Goel	....	crowd casting
Jill Mellis	....	crowd casting
Dolly Thakore	....	casting: India

Costume and Wardrobe Department
V.K. Dixit	....	wardrobe assistant
Sally Downing	....	wardrobe mistress
Nic Ede	....	wardrobe master (as Nicholas Ede)
Shernaz Italia	....	wardrobe assistant
Aperna Kasara	....	wardrobe assistant (as Aperna Katara)
Sina Kaul	....	advisor: Indian wardrobe
Vinod Kumar	....	wardrobe assistant
Pavan Malhotra	....	wardrobe assistant
Manju Raj Saraogi	....	wardrober: Indian wardrobe

Editorial Department
Margaret Adams	....	post-production assistant
Gary Beard	....	assistant editor
Neil Farrell	....	assistant editor
Raj Kothari	....	assistant editor
Mick Monks	....	assistant editor
Alan Pattillo	....	associate editor
Chris Ridsdale	....	assembly editor
Dilip Roy	....	assistant editor (uncredited)
Sati Tooray	....	colorist (uncredited)

Music Department
Harish Desai	....	conductor (as Ashit Desai)
P. Desai	....	conductor
George Fenton	....	conductor
George Fenton	....	orchestrator
Ashish Khan	....	conductor
Ustad Sultan Khan	....	conductor (as Sultan Khan)
Sharad Kumar	....	conductor
T.K. Ramakrishnan	....	conductor
Vijay Raghava Rao	....	assistant conductor: Ravi Shankar (as Vijay Raghav Rao)
Vijay Raghava Rao	....	music coordinator (as Vijay Raghav Rao)
John Richards	....	music recordist
Lakshmi Shankar	....	conductor
Francis Silkstone	....	music coordinator

Transportation Department
Brian Hathaway	....	transportation captain
K.N. Sethi	....	transportation manager (as Major K.N. Sethi)

Other crew
Margaret Adams	....	contact: London
G.D. Bakshi	....	catering assistant
Colonel Balachandra	....	military advisor
Mohini Banerji	....	liaison: Delhi
S. Banerji	....	military liaison (as Air Commodorer S. Banerji)
S. Banerji	....	police liaison (as Air Commodorer S. Banerji)
Judi Bunn	....	production secretary (as Judith Bunn)
Sharlene Chatelier	....	production assistant
Eleanor Chaudhuri	....	production assistant
Graham Ford	....	location manager
E.R. Gopinathan	....	assistant accountant
Jo Hannam	....	assistant accountant
Diana Hawkins	....	director of publicity
Clare Howard	....	production secretary
Pat Howell	....	chief accountant
Padma Iyer	....	continuity: second unit
Sudhir Krishna	....	unit doctor (as Dr. S. Krishna)
Terry Mellis	....	production accountant
Lorna Mueller	....	researcher
Loretta Ordewer	....	production coordinator
Dilshad Panday	....	production assistant
R. Puri	....	historical consultant (as Professor R. Puri)
June Randall	....	continuity
Rajiv Suri	....	location manager: second unit
Sudesh Syal	....	location manager
Dolly Thakore	....	unit publicist
Diana White	....	assistant unit publicist
Michael White	....	assistant to director
Bob Bridges	....	louma crane technician (uncredited)
Richard Morrison	....	title designer (uncredited)

Thanks
Motilal Kothari	....	dedicatee
Louis Mountbatten	....	dedicatee (as Earl Mountbatten of Burma, K.G.)
Jawaharlal Nehru	....	dedicatee (as Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru)

Production Companies

• Columbia Pictures Corporation (as Columbia Pictures) (presents)
• Goldcrest Films International (as Goldcrest Films) (in association with) (presents)
• International Film Investors (presents)
• National Film Development Corporation of India (NFDC) (as National Film Development Corporation Ltd. of India) (presents)
• Indo-British (as Indo-British Films Ltd.) (presents)
• Carolina Bank

Distributors

• Columbia Pictures (1982) (USA) (theatrical)
• Warner-Columbia Film (1983) (France) (theatrical)
• Warner-Columbia Films (1983) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1987) (USA) (TV) (broadcast premiere)
• Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment (2001) (UK) (DVD)
• Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment (2001) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (2001) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (1994) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (1996) (USA) (VHS)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• Egmont Entertainment (2001) (Finland) (DVD)
• Esselte Video (????) (Finland) (video)
• LK-TEL (19??) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Nelonen (2005) (Finland) (TV)
• Pioneer Entertainment (1991) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video (1992) (USA) (VHS)
• RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video (19??) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Nordic (2007) (Finland) (DVD) (2 disc edition)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2007) (Germany) (DVD) (2-disc collector's edition)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2007) (Netherlands) (DVD) (2-disc deluxe edition)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2009) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-Ray Disc)
• TV3 (1991) (Finland) (TV)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (1996) (Finland) (TV)

Other Companies

• Air India  special thanks
• Blowup  stills processing
• Dolby Laboratories  sound post-production
• Location Caterers, The  catering
• Mark Baron Company, The  director project publicity
• Mark Baron Company, The  director publicity project management

Also Known As:

Richard Attenborough's Film: Gandhi (USA) (complete title)

Runtime:

191 min

Country:

UK | India

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby (35 mm prints) | 70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints)

Certification:

Iceland:L | Portugal:M/12 | Spain:T | Brazil:14 | Netherlands:12 | Netherlands:AL (DVD rating) (2001) | New Zealand:PG | Argentina:13 | Australia:M (original rating) | Australia:PG (video rating) | Canada:PG | Chile:14 | Finland:K-12 | Ireland:PG | Norway:11 | Norway:12 (1983) | Singapore:PG | South Korea:12 | Sweden:11 | UK:PG | USA:PG | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Aga Khan Palace, Nagar Rd, Pune, Maharashtra, India

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

In John Ratzenberger's brief scene, his voice is dubbed.

Goofs:

Incorrectly regarded as goofs: While it is true that electricity was unavailable to most Indian villages during Gandhi's lifetime, it can be expected that poles supporting what seem to be power lines along the railroad right-of-way during Gandhi's tour of India are instead supporting telegraph lines, some of which were in place as early as the 1850s.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Gandhi: [Godse shoots Gandhi in the chest] Oh God!

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in 'Weird Al' Yankovic: The Ultimate Video Collection (2003) (V)

Beautiful Film

"The object of this massive tribute died as he had always lived, without wealth, without property, without official title or office. Mahatma Gandhi was not the commander of armies, nor the ruler of vast lands. He could not boast any scientific achievement or artistic gift. Yet men, governments, dignitaries from all over the world, have joined hands today to pay homage to the little brown man in the loin cloth, who led his country to freedom."

This quote is from the funeral scene in the 1982 film "Gandhi". Richard Attenborough directed this massive epic about the man that freed India. The film opens with Gandhi's assassination. The next scene, his funeral, is one of the greatest scenes in cinematic history. Attenborough managed to recreate Gandhi's funeral on January 31st, 1981, the 33rd anniversary of the actual funeral. It is estimated that nearly 400,000 people were on hand to be a part of the filming the recreation. This film was made before CGI (computer generated images), so the funeral scene is probably the last live action crowd of that magnitude that will ever be filmed.

Mahatma Gandhi's message of non-violent resistance is delivered in an interesting and enthralling body of art. This film has made and will make millions of people aware of the little brown man that took on the British Empire and won. "Gandhi" serves both as entertainment and an important historical record of one of the most important figures in history.

Ben Kingsley played Gandhi. He was the perfect for the role. He resembled the real Gandhi. He was young enough to portray Gandhi as a young man. He is a British actor that nailed the British influenced Indian accent. He is a wonderful actor that was patient and humble with such an important part. And he was a relatively unknown actor at the time, so the "big-time actor" persona did not get in the way of viewing the film. He did win both the Academy Award and Golden Globe for best actor, for this role, which I agree he deserved. He became Gandhi.

The cinematography was outstanding. Attenborough filmed "Gandhi" on location in India. The scenes of India are spectacular, and India is very much another character in the film. This film is as much about India itself as it is about Gandhi. Attenborough shows the audience the people of India from its countryside to the vast city of Calcutta. It is suggested by Kingsley, on the DVD, that Attenborough had a difficult time with the elite class in India at the time of filming. They were against the making of such a film by an Englishman. Undeterred by their negative thinking, he persevered to enlist thousands of Indians to help make this film. Every crowd scene, he used real Indians from the area. Attenborough also won both the Academy Award and Golden Globe for best direction.

This movie is a must see for everyone. It should be required viewing in high schools, as part of History class. The fight against prejudice will forever be relevant. It is also a beautiful work of art. This movie is not tainted by the embellishment of Hollywood (see "Pearl Harbor" for that). Of course, it would have been hard to screw up a movie about such a great man. 10/10