List of artistic depictions of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (Gujarati: મોહનદાસ કરમચંદ ગાંધી, _hi. मोहनदास करमचंद गांधी, IAST: "mohandās karamcand gāndhī", IPA2|mohən̪d̪as kərəmtʃən̪d̪ gan̪d̪ʱi) (October 2 1869 – January 30, 1948) was a major political and spiritual leader of India and the Indian independence movement. He was the pioneer of "Satyagraha" — the resistance of tyranny through mass civil disobedience, firmly founded upon "ahimsa" or total non-violence — which led India to independence and inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world. Gandhi is commonly known in India and across the world as "Mahatma Gandhi" (Sanskrit: महात्मा "mahātmā" — "Great Soul") and as "Bapu" (Gujarati: બાપુ "bāpu" — "Father"). In India, he is recognized as the "Father of the Nation" and October 2nd, his birthday, is commemorated each year as "Gandhi Jayanti", a national holiday.

Gandhi has been portrayed in a number of films as well as on the stage. Some of the most notable films include "Gandhi" (1982), "The Making of the Mahatma" (1996), "Lage Raho Munna Bhai" (2006), [ [http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2006/10/13/how_gandhi_got_his_mojo_back/ How Gandhi Got His Mojo Back] ] and "Gandhi, My Father" (2007).

Film

21st century

*2007: Gandhi is portrayed by Darshan Jariwala in "Gandhi, My Father".

*2007: The image of Gandhi is reprised by Dilip Prabhavalkar in "Shankar Dada Zindabad", the Telugu language remake of "Lage Raho Munna Bhai".
*2006: The image of Gandhi is portrayed by Dilip Prabhavalkar in the award-winning film "Lage Raho Munna Bhai". It stars Sanjay Dutt as Munna Bhai and popularised the new term "Gandhigiri" in India.

*2005: Gandhi is portrayed by Mohan Jhangiani (actor) and Zul Vilani (voice) who appears briefly in the film "Water" (the film was also turned into the book, "", by Bapsi Sidhwa).

*2005: "", ends with newsreel footage featuring Gandhi.

*2005: "Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara", tells the story of a retired Hindi professor, who, as he falls victim to Alzheimer's disease, begins to believe that he was accused of being the man who assassinated Mahatma Gandhi.

*2004: "Swades", "epitomizes Gandhi's values" according to his great-grandson, Tushar Gandhi. [cite news | first=Subhash| last=Jha| url=http://www.nowrunning.com/news/news.asp?it=9925| title='I'm pleased with Hirani's Gandhigiri,' says Gandhi's grandson| publisher=nowrunning.com| date=2007-03-19|accessdate=2007-03-19]

*2001: Gandhi is portrayed by Surendra Rajan in the film "Veer Savarkar", about the life of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.

*2000: Gandhi is portrayed by Mohan Gokhale in "Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar", which is based upon the life of B. R. Ambedkar.

*2000: Gandhi is portrayed by Naseeruddin Shah in "Hey Ram". A film made by Kamal Hasan, it portrays a would-be assassin of Gandhi and the dilemma faced by the would-be assassins in the turmoil of post-partition India.

20th century

*1998: Gandhi is portrayed by Sam Dastor in "Jinnah", a biopic of the founder of Pakistan, Mohammed Ali Jinnah.

*1996: Gandhi is portrayed by Rajit Kapur in his award-winning role as a young Gandhi in "The Making of the Mahatma", a Shyam Benegal film about Gandhi's 21 years in South Africa.

*1993: Gandhi is portrayed by Annu Kapoor in the Ketan Mehta film "Sardar" which is about the life of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.

*1982: Gandhi is portrayed by Ben Kingsley in the award-winning film, "Gandhi", directed by Richard Attenborough. The film won eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor.

*1963: Gandhi is portrayed by J.S. Casshyap in "Nine Hours to Rama" based upon the 1962 book by Stanley Wolpert.

Theater

*The opera "Satyāgraha", composed by Philip Glass (in 1980), with a libretto by himself and Constance De Jong is based on Gandhi's experiences in South Africa.
*"Me Nathuram Godse Boltoy" (Marathi: "This is Nathuram Godsé speaking") explores the rationale and circumstances in which Gandhi's murder was plotted and carried out.

Parodies and computer games

Mahatma Gandhi, a symbol of peace and non-violent resistance, has ironically been depicted in most instances of games and parodies in roles which were antithetical to his beliefs.

Computer games

*Mahatma Gandhi has been featured in the video game series "Civilization," as a civilization leader of the Indian Civilization. He has appeared through the first three "Civilization" games as a lone Civilization leader, but in "Civilization IV," Gandhi is a civilization leader alongside Asoka, the famous Indian Emperor.
*In "Celebrity Deathmatch", Gandhi is pitted against Genghis Khan.
*In the online flash-based game [http://www.worlddominationbattle.com/ World Domination Battle] by Shlubby Interactive, players can select to play as Mahatma Gandhi, called Mahatman Gandij in the game, and battle 12 other world leaders, past and present, for global supremacy.

Parodies

(Warning: Some of these may seem very offensive to supporters and followers of Mahatma Gandhi.)
* The short-lived MTV cartoon "Clone High" featured the clone of Gandhi as one of the main characters.
* The features a cutaway of a portrayed Gandhi unsuccessfully doing stand-up comedy at a club.
* The cartoon "Time Squad" on Cartoon Network has an episode where Gandhi is portrayed as wanting to do tap dancing as a career, instead of leading India to independence.
* In the TV-show "Scrubs" "Dr.Cox" constantly refers to "Donald Faisons" character as 'Gandhi'.
* A gun-toting Gandhi is shown briefly in a parody trailer for "Gandhi II" in the comedy movie "UHF" in which he is described as "No more Mr. Passive Resistance".
* Gandhi is referenced in three episodes of the sitcom Seinfeld. In the second season episode called "The Chinese Restaurant," Elaine Benes asks Jerry [http://www.seinfeldscripts.com/TheChineseRestaurant.htm "Did Gandhi get this crazy?!"] , after George Costanza becomes verbally aggressive when beaten to a pay phone. The following season, in the episode "The Suicide", Elaine wonders aloud what Gandhi must have eaten before he fasted. Jerry responds [http://www.seinfeldscripts.com/TheSuicide.html "Oh, yeah. Gandhi loved Triscuits."] The final reference to Gandhi comes in the Show's 4th season in the episode "The Old Man", when Elaine visits an old woman, Mrs. Oliver, played by Edie McClurg, who claims to have had an [http://www.seinfeldscripts.com/TheOldMan.htm "affair with Mohandas."] Mrs. Oliver recounts "Oh...the passion! The forbidden pleasure!...He used to dip his bald head in oil...and rub it all over my body," and proceeds to show a picture of her with Gandhi to Elaine.
* In "The Simpsons" episode "Mountain of Madness" Montgomery Burns hallucinates seeing Homer Simpson conspiring against him with Mahatma Gandhi and other historical characters. Also the episode "Homer and Apu" reveals Apu has a unique prayer said prior to eating: "Good rice, good curry, good Gandhi, let's hurry".
* In "", during the scene where Kenny goes to hell, Gandhi is one of the ghosts seen speaking to Kenny (along with George Burns and Adolf Hitler).
* In "Jiminy Glick in LaLaWood" Jimini is seen viewing the movie "Growing up Gandhi" which depicts Gandhi as a boxer in his younger days, at the Toranto film festiville.
* The stop-motion animated series "Robot Chicken" has Gandhi saving Benjamin Franklin from the Wright Brothers in the skit "Educational Wrestling Federation" (Parody of WWE), .
* In a monologue, Robin Williams jokingly suggested that there should be a clothing brand called Gandhi jeans (sizes 1 and below).
* The Warner Bros. cartoon "Bugs Bunny Rides Again" originally featured Yosemite Sam calling himself "The roughest, toughest, he-man stuffest hombre as ever crossed the Rio Grande -- and I don't mean Mahatma Gand-ee!" However, due to Gandhi's assassination, Mel Blanc later changed the second half of the line to "I ain't no namby-pamby!", and it has remained such ever since.

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* An award winning Telecom Italia commercial by Y&R, Italy directed by Spike Lee depicts Gandhi broadcasting a speech to the WW2 countries, reaching audiences by using modern methods of communication technology.cite web|last= CGSociety |title= Spike Lee and Framestore CFC Team Up for Telecom Italia Spot |url= http://features.cgsociety.org/cgfilms/cgfilm.php?story_id=2429 |date= September 28, 2004 [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IatyFUDTRAs Youtube clip] ] [ [http://www.adforum.com/creative_archive/award/award_detail.asp?ob=scategory&wtype=film&tb=2&ID=13&awy=2004 Adforum: Epica Awards 2004] ]

Musical Mentions

* Gandhi is mentioned in Cult of Personality by Living Colour as part of their big cult of personality along with other leaders such as Joseph Stalin.

Further reading

* Inspiration from Mahatma Gandhi : http://www.famousquotesfunnyquotes.com/authors/mahatma_gandhi/
* " [http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-2221587,prtpage-1.cms Gandhi: The Making of a Hero] ". "Times of India", 21 July 2007.
* Chatterji, Shoma A. " [http://www.deccanherald.com/Content/Jul222007/enter2007072114311.asp In the name of the father] ." "Deccan Herald", 22 July 2007.
* Jha, Subhash K. " [http://www.nowrunning.com/news/news.asp?it=9925 I'm pleased with Hirani's Gandhigiri,' says Gandhi's grandson] " IANS (Indo-Asian News Service), 19 March 2007.
* Ramachandran, S. " [http://www.telegraphindia.com/1060402/asp/look/story_6041732.asp# Hey Ram! So many films on Gandhi!] ." "The Telegraph", 02 April 2006
* Ramachandaran, Shastri. " [http://www.tribuneindia.com/2006/20060923/edit.htm#4 Jollygood Bollywood: Munnabhai rescues Mahatma] ". "The Tribune," September 23, 2006.
* Subramanian, T.S. " [http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl2303/stories/20060224002710100.htm Rediscovering a Gandhi film] ". Frontline (magazine), Volume 23 - Issue 03, Feb. 11 - 24, 2006.

Notes