Jul 23, 2003 06:07 PM
2832 Views
(Updated Jul 23, 2003 06:07 PM)
Movie Gandhi was perhaps flawed for more than one reasons... so I will just sum them up one by one:
1) Gandhi was hardly the caricature that the movie makes him out to be. He was an incredibly complex man with his good points and flaws. To make him into some sort of a saint who could do no wrong is a disservice both to Gandhi and to the cause of History.
2) The portrayal of Jinnah as a cold villain was hardly fair. Infact it was a blatant travesty of the truth. Jinnah, the best Ambassador of Hindu Muslim unity, was for most of his life an ardent Indian Nationalist and constitutionalist. Interestingly the movie tries to add some jealousy angle, forgetting that it was Jinnah who had welcomed Gandhi back through the Gujurati association and had persuaded him to run for the office of the president of Home rule League. Furthermore it attributes Direct action to Jinnah as early as 1920 when Jinnah was in favor of constitutional proceedings... it was not until 1946 in his struggle for Pakistan that he adopted popular struggle methods like civil disobedience.
3) The complete and utter absence of great figures like Subhas Chandrabose, and Bhagat Singh is surprising... Both of these men formed an integral part to the freedom struggle atleast as important as Gandhi, Nehru and Jinnah.. then why were they never mentioned?
