Actors who personified Gandhi with elan on big screen

Ben Kingsley as Gandhi

Chennai, Oct 1 (IANS) Those belonging to the Millennial Generation have learned about the Father of the Nation — whose 143rd birth anniversary India celebrates Tuesday — either through books or films.

Many feel that the visual medium has a greater impact and on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti, IANS lists some of the actors who played ‘Bapu’ with perfection on screen and left an impact on the viewers.

Sir Ben Kingsley: One of the best Gandhi portrayals ever was by Ben Kingsley in Richard Attenborough’s 1982 biopic “Gandhi”. The reviewers lauded the English actor saying he portrayed the intensity, the wit and even the distinctive determined walk of Bapu. The film won eight Oscars, including best actor golden statuette for Kingsley.

Rajit Kapur: Popularly known as Byomkesh Bakshi, Rajit delivered an award-winning portrayal of Gandhi in the 1996 film “The Making of the Mahatma”. Directed by veteran Shyam Benegal, it recounts 21 years that Gandhiji spent in South Africa and the actor, known for his versatility, pulled it off with aplomb.

Dilip Prabhavalkar: In recent times, Dilip Prabhavalkar, Marathi stage and movie artist, became particularly famous for his portrayal of Gandhi in Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s commercial blockbuster “Lagey Raho Munnabhai”. In the film, Sanjay Dutt practises ‘Gandhigiri’ and he also begins to see the Mahatma, played by Dilip who won a National Award for the best supporting role for his performance in the comedy. Dilip also reprised the same role in the Telugu version titled “Shankar Dada Zindabad”.

Darshan Jariwala: Playing Bapu turned out to be lucky for Darshan Jariwala too. In “Gandhi, My Father”, director Feroz Abbas Khan showcased Mahatma’s complex relationship with his son Harilal Gandhi. The film didn’t do commercially well, but garnered several awards at different award functions and even won Darshan a National Award for the same.

IANS 2012-10-01 20:03:11