Mahatma Gandhi has long been a beloved topic of filmmakers, and a number of films have been made about one of the world’s most influential leaders. Aside from biopics and historical films, a lot of Tamil films have made brief mentions of the Father of the Nation. Ahead of Gandhi Jayanthi here are a few examples of them.
‘Hey Ram’:
Talking about Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi in relation to Tamil cinema, the first film that strikes our minds would undoubtedly be writer-director Kamal Haasan’s masterpiece, ‘Hey Ram’ (2000). The movie, set in a very unusual and Kamal’s flavoured controversy, is all about justifying the assassination of Gandhi. The screenplay traverses from the viewpoint of Saket Ram, who loses his wife to the Hindu-Muslim riots that happened during the Partition of West Bengal and East Pakistan – a similar story of Nathuram Godse whose sister was raped and killed in the commotion.
‘Mahaan’:
‘Mahaan’ which released in 2022 is written and directed by Karthik Subbaraj and produced by S. S. Lalit Kumar under the banner of Seven Screen Studio. The film stars Vikram, Simran, Dhruv Vikram, Bobby Simha, while Sananth, Vettai Muthukumar, Deepak Paramesh and Aadukalam Naren in supporting roles. In the film, Gandhi Mahaan, a commerce teacher is abandoned by his family, where he lives as the former turns into a liquor baron and lives a life of his own, but his son Dadabhai Naoroiji, an extremist Gandhian vows revenge on his father who violated Gandhian principles and abandoned his family. The film’s music is composed by Santhosh Narayanan, with cinematography handled by Shreyaas Krishna and editing done by Vivek Harshan.
‘Gandhi Talks’:
Zee Studios has announced a silent film, titled ‘Gandhi Talks’ with actor Vijay Sethupathi. It also stars Aditi Rao Hydari, Arvind Swami and Siddharth Jadhav. An AR Rahman musical, the dark comedy will be directed by Kishore P ‘Belekar’ and also feature actors Aditi Rao Hydari and Arvind Swami, a press release by Zee Studios stated. The teaser which was released last year is filled with various glimpses of the Indian rupee note with Mahatma Gandhi’s Portrait, has no dialogues. The 80-second teaser introduces the four main characters. The movie is slated to be released by the end of this year.
‘Aayudham Seivom’:
In director Udhayan’s ‘Aayudham Seivom’, Saidai Sathya (Sundar C), a mechanic and traffic policeman Kandasamy (Vivekh), are sent to Madurai Gandhi museum for help. It is during the time spent at the museum that the hitherto corrupt duo undergoes a transformation in their character, after imbibing the values that Mahatma Gandhi taught and practised.
‘Indru Netru Naalai’:
Ravikumar’s science fiction ‘Indru Netru Naalai’, too, has a reference to Mahatma Gandhi. In the film, Elango (Vishnu Vishal) and Pulivetti Arumugam (Karunakaran), travel back in time using a time travelling machine. When they see an advertisement about rare pictures of Mahatma Gandhi, they travel back in time and take a selfie with the Father of the Nation.
