Gandhi, my father review

Importance of being earnest
Review by Khalid Mohamed in Hindustan Times

A train’s about to leave. Rushing to a compartment, a desperate man hands a shrivelled orange to his mother. She asks lovingly, “Where..where did you get it?” as if she had been handed manna from heaven. And then the man tells his saintly father, “You are what you are because of her..and her alone.”
That’s one of the searing moments of Gandhi My Father, which marks the debuts of actor Anil Kapoor as producer and theatre wunderkind Feroz Abbas Khan as writer-director. The painstakingly-mounted duel between the Mahatma (Darshan Jariwala) and his prodigal son Harilal (Akshaye Khanna) has its heart in the right place.
It tells us that blood isn’t thicker than water – not when the struggle is to guide a nation towards its independence. If one’s own son is left by the wayside, so be it. That the nation’s father lacerated his son emotionally – with tragic results – was scooped by the stage play Mahatma versus Gandhi directed by Khan himself about a decade ago.
Now Khan goes at the story, ascribed to various authors, with an approach that’s overwhelmingly elegiac, stating that a man must sacrifice his own family at the altar of the greater good. The screenplay, at times tends to be patchy, jumping cursorily between South Africa and India. Despite that, the vignettes add up to a work which reminds you of one of the nearly extinct principles of filmmaking – and that is the importance of being earnest.
Read complete review

Gandhi My Father: Brave attempt
By Syed Firdaus Ashraf in Rediff.com

With Gandhi My Father Anil Kapoor, has touched a subject that no Bollywood producer would have dared to.
The film is a brave attempt and director Feroz Abbas Khan has tried to bring out the complicated relationship between the Father of the Nation Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and his eldest son, Harilal.
The film works because of the wonderful performances from the four lead actors: Darshan Jhaveri as Mahatma Gandhi [Images], Akshaye Khanna as Harilal, Shefali Shah as Kasturba Gandhi [Images] and Bhoomika Chawla as Harilal's wife Gulab.
Unfortunately, the script has many loopholes. A little more research on what the real problem between Mahatma and his son was would have made this film a classic. It is here that Feroz Abbas Khan disappoints.
To begin with, there was no justification for Gandhi opposing Harilal's decision to get married. Again, a little research on the reason behind Harilal's rebellion against his father could have taken the film to another level.
Another inconsistency is the part where the Mahatma advocates Indian students to go to London [Images] for a scholarship but when it comes to his own son, he sticks to Satyagraha and Indian values.
More questions come to the fore as the film progresses and no reason is given for the growing distance between father and son, though there are enough about the Mahatma being more concerned about the nation's interest than his family.
Rating:***
Read complete review

Slice of history
By Sarita Tanwar in Mid-day

What’s it about: It’s not every week that you encounter a film like Gandhi My Father. Which is precisely why, when you do, you expect a lot from it. When a filmmaker undertakes a subject of such magnitude, you want him to focus as much on the film’s intricacies. But Feroz Khan’s debut venture leaves you somewhat cold despite its lavish mounting, authentic look and classic presentation. The film delves into Mahatma Gandhi’s (Darrshan Jariwala) complex relationship with his oldest son, Harilal (Akshaye Khanna). History remembers Harilal as a drunkard and a slur on the celebrated family. Khan offers to reveal his other side — as a loving son to Kasturba (Shefali Shah), a devoted husband to Gulab (Bhumika Chawla) and a doting father to his four children. For most of the film, Harilal struggles to understand his father and eventually ends up blaming him for his unfortunate life. What’s Hot: It’s heartening to see a mainstream actor like Anil Kapoor pick up a non-commercial subject like this for his banner. The film boasts of high production values. Everyone, from the director of photography, David Macdonald, to production designer Nitin Desai, deserve special mention for their contribution. Penny Smith does an amazing job with the hair and make-up, and costume designer Sujata Sharma is impeccable in her styling.
Rating:**1/2
Read complete review

Loose experiment with truth
By Mayank Shekhar in Mumbai Mirror

A tiny, unformed shrub stunted under the spread of an over-awed larger tree is a known phenomenon of public life. An offspring at logger-heads with a grand patriarch who he perceives as either negligent towards his own, or virtuously objective to a fault, is the stuff of mythology (Ramayana), and several contemporary Hindi films (Shakti, Sarkar, Apaharan…). Mahatma Gandhi's similarly turbulent relationship with his eldest son Harilal, though specific, is then universal at the same time. Harilal (Khanna) was, according to the film's account, an initial experiment for the elder Gandhi (Jariwal). He remained pretty much unschooled, which, to most extent, appear as his own academic weakness. The Mahatma wasn't disappointed. In his later years, Gandhiji saw western educationEducationTimes.com: Gateway to Successhttp://www.educationtimes.com as being capable of colonizing minds; hardly a weapon to fight discrimination and injustice in his adopted home South Africa, or thereafter in India. The latter were his all-consuming concerns by then. Just as the 'Bapu' to this nation, the Mahatma had wished a minor course for his own son.
Rating:**
Read complete review