Sunset in the Land of Anarchy : A Movie review on “Gandhi”

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.

 - Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi -

Sunset in the Land of Anarchy 

A Movie review on “Gandhi”

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.

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi or well-known as Mahatma Gandhi was an Indian charismatic political leader, born on 2 October 1869 and died on30 January 1948, was the preeminent leader of the Indian independence movement in British-ruled India. Employing nonviolent civil disobedience, Gandhi led India to independence and inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world. In India, he is also called Bapu, a Gujarati language endearment for "father"and Gandhiji. He is unofficially called the Father of the Nation.

The movie ‘Gandhi’ was released in India on 30 November 1982, in the United Kingdom on 3 December, and in the United States on 6 December. It was nominated for Academy Awards in eleven categories, winning eight, including Best Picture. Richard Attenborough won for Best Director, and Ben Kingsley won for Best Actor. The film was screened retrospective on 12 August 2016 as the Opening Film at the Independence Day Film Festival jointly presented by the Indian Directorate of Film Festivals and Ministry of Defense, commemorating 70th Indian Independence Day. 

The film begins on the day of Gandhi's assassination on 30 January 1948. After an evening prayer, an elderly Gandhi is helped out for his evening walk to meet a large number of greeters and admirers. One of these visitors, Nathuram Godse, shoots him point blank in the chest. Gandhi exclaims, "Oh, God!" ("Hē Ram!" historically), and then falls dead. The film then cuts to a huge procession at his funeral, which is attended by dignitaries from around the world.

The early life of Gandhi is not depicted in the film. Instead, the story flashes back 55 years to a life-changing event: in 1893, the 23-year-old Gandhi is thrown off a South African train for being an Indian sitting in a first-class compartment despite having a first-class ticket. Realising the laws are biased against Indians, he then decides to start a nonviolent protest campaign for the rights of all Indians in South Africa. After numerous arrests and unwelcome international attention, the government finally relents by recognising some rights for Indians.

After this victory, Gandhi is invited back to India, where he is now considered something of a national hero. He is urged to take up the fight for India's independence, from the British Empire. Gandhi agrees, and mounts a nonviolent non-cooperation campaign of unprecedented scale, coordinating millions of Indians nationwide. There are some setbacks, such as violence against the protesters and Gandhi's occasional imprisonment. The Jallianwala Bagh massacre is also depicted in the film. The Jallianwala Bagh massacre, also known as the Amritsar massacre, took place on 13 April 1919 when a crowd of nonviolent protesters, along with Baishakhi pilgrims, who had gathered in Jallianwala Bagh, Amritsar, Punjab, were fired upon by troops of the British Indian Army under the command of Colonel Reginald Dyer. The civilians had assembled to participate in the annual Baisakhi celebrations—both a religious and cultural festival for the Punjabis.

Nevertheless, the campaign generates great attention, and Britain faces intense public pressure. After World War II, Britain finally grants Indian independence. Indians celebrate this victory, but their troubles are far from over. The country is subsequently divided by religion. It is decided that the northwest area and the eastern part of India (current-day Bangladesh), both places where Muslims are in the majority, will become a new country called Pakistan. It is hoped that by encouraging the Muslims to live in a separate country, violence will abate. Gandhi is opposed to the idea, and is even willing to allow Muhammad Ali Jinnah to become the first prime minister of India, but the Partition of India is carried out nevertheless. Religious tensions between Hindus and Muslims erupt into nationwide violence. Horrified, Gandhi declares a hunger strike, saying he will not eat until the fighting stops. The fighting does stop eventually.

Gandhi spends his last days trying to bring about peace between both nations. He thereby angers many dissidents on both sides, one of whom (Godse) is involved in a conspiracy to assassinate him. As Godse shoots Gandhi in a scene recalling the opening, the film cuts to black and Gandhi is heard in a voiceover, saying "Oh, God!" The audience then sees Gandhi's cremation; the film ending with a scene of Gandhi's ashes being scattered on the holy Ganga.

What do we learn form a 191 minutes Hollywood movie is a character of person who has a passion to care a nation from imperialized era to independent era of India. He learnt and implemented in action that non-violence movement will bring a great winning to the independent.  But he feel very disappointed when he knew that his principle of non-violence movement in independency of India did not bring long experienced in taking care in inter religious relation in India. It brought the partition of India into two nation states, India and Pakistan which have different people in religion.