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at 01:08:29 am on August 11, 2007
The unfortunate son
Ok I know I said I’d watch Chak De..on the first day, but I’m off on a business trip and by the time I come back Chak De India would still be playing (to packed houses I hope), but the film I am reviewing would probably be off the cinema. Yeap, I made a choice and watched Gandhi My Father.
Wow, wow and damn blady wow. Don’t get me wrong, this wow is not because this was a film about Gandhi. Nope not at all. Gandhi was cool in Lage Raho ( ha ha), here Gandhi the human is what is on our plates. But I will say this again, this wow is not for the fact that this is about Gandhi, the wows are all for Feroz Abbas Khan, Anil Kapoor, Nitin Desai, Shefali Shah, Bhumika Chawla, Darshan Jariwala and ofcourse, most definitely ofcourse Akshaye Khanna.
Reel Life – The film is about the Mahatma’s relationships with his eldest son – Harilal. The film takes you thru a journey on how a man who even today is associated with non-violence and specially his sense of honesty and discipline, affected his own family, and specially his eldest son. While the man became a father to an entire nation, he failed to be a father to a son who struggled to reach out to him right below his nose. The rebellion does various things to get attention, to get back to the extreme virtues of his father. Harilal was the typical bad son who thought from his heart, trying to get his father who thought with his mind, to love him and help him be nothing short of, letting him follow in his own steps.
The film also showcases the Mahatma’s dedication towards getting Indians to unite and throwing the British off ruling our country. Then there is the story of a woman, who is a great strength to the father of the nation, in being his wife, and yet she is torn between her duties there and that of being a mother. Being a mother to a son she sees as clearly getting lost, and yet knows that it is because of the fact that his father is to be blamed for a portion of it. It is the story of a great man, and an unfortunate son.
Real Life – Oh this film has it in plenty. It shows how selfish we humans can get, intentionally or not. I see a lot of Gandhi’s way of working (unfortunately not thinking) in today’s human race. We are so lost in what we do. We try to focus on our work, our goals and our dreams and in turn, many a times we ignore our families. We loose out on spending time with our kids, our parents, our spouses and even our friends. We get so engrossed in our own worlds that we tend to get selfish. There is Gandhi’s way of working in all of us, and in all of us there is a Harilal, reaching out, to be loved and to be understood. I hope this serves as a reminder to put an end to be selfish, and begins within our hearts, the ability to reach out and stop the makings of the pain in other harilal’s in our midst.
Cinematically – Fantastic. The photography is first class. The set design is first class, the music is first class. The direction is first class, the production is first class and the acting is first class. I would love to see this go to the Oscars from a cinematic point of view. Akshaye Khanna is Bollywood’s most underrated actor. He is not a star, he is an actor and a damn good one too at it. Well done Mr. Anil Kapoor – I salute you.
