Even after his death, he passed away at the ripe age of 90 in London on Sunday, Attenborough would be alive in the memory of generations of Indians for his critically-acclaimed biopic on Mahatma Gandhi.
Some say Attenborough would be better remembered by the present generation for his role as John Hammond, the eccentric developer in Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park (1993) and the film’s sequel, The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997). True, but the magnetic personality of the father of the nation and the extra-ordinary depiction on screen by Ben Kinsley under the baton of Attenborough would remain his best contribution to the world of films.
Gandhi was released in India on 30 November 30, 1982, and a few days later on 3 December in the United Kingdom, and still three days later on 6 December in the United States of America. The film had a grand premiere in the UK on 2 December, 1982 at the Royal Premiere at the Odeon Leicester Square in London. The film’s premiere was attended by Prince Charles and his then wife Princess Diana.
However, Attenborough’s tryst with Gandhi started years earlier when he managed to meet then prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru and his daughter Indira through a common friend, Louis Mountbatten, the last Viceroy of British empire in India. Attenborough was inspired to make the film by Motilal Kothari, a Gandhian bureaucrat working at the Indian High Commission in London.
Kothari insisted on Attenborough meeting him and when the two met Kothari managed to convince Attenborough to make a film on the Mahatma. No wonder Attenborough dedicated Gandhi to Kothari, Mountbatten and Nehru. Before agreeing to make the film, Attenborough read Louis Fischer’s biography of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. The project which was conceived in the early 1960s finally went to floors in 1980 with liberal funding from National Film Development Corporation, which paid $10 million to meet the shortfall in budget.
The film, as mentioned earlier, was finally released in 1982 and went onto win both critical and commercial acclaim. It brought Mahatma back into our lives as he had started to fade from the nation’s memory. The nation would remain indebted to Sir Richard for reliving the tale of one of the greatest human beings to have ever lived.
Some say Attenborough would be better remembered by the present generation for his role as John Hammond, the eccentric developer in Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park (1993) and the film’s sequel, The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997). True, but the magnetic personality of the father of the nation and the extra-ordinary depiction on screen by Ben Kinsley under the baton of Attenborough would remain his best contribution to the world of films.
Gandhi was released in India on 30 November 30, 1982, and a few days later on 3 December in the United Kingdom, and still three days later on 6 December in the United States of America. The film had a grand premiere in the UK on 2 December, 1982 at the Royal Premiere at the Odeon Leicester Square in London. The film’s premiere was attended by Prince Charles and his then wife Princess Diana.
However, Attenborough’s tryst with Gandhi started years earlier when he managed to meet then prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru and his daughter Indira through a common friend, Louis Mountbatten, the last Viceroy of British empire in India. Attenborough was inspired to make the film by Motilal Kothari, a Gandhian bureaucrat working at the Indian High Commission in London.
Kothari insisted on Attenborough meeting him and when the two met Kothari managed to convince Attenborough to make a film on the Mahatma. No wonder Attenborough dedicated Gandhi to Kothari, Mountbatten and Nehru. Before agreeing to make the film, Attenborough read Louis Fischer’s biography of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. The project which was conceived in the early 1960s finally went to floors in 1980 with liberal funding from National Film Development Corporation, which paid $10 million to meet the shortfall in budget.
The film, as mentioned earlier, was finally released in 1982 and went onto win both critical and commercial acclaim. It brought Mahatma back into our lives as he had started to fade from the nation’s memory. The nation would remain indebted to Sir Richard for reliving the tale of one of the greatest human beings to have ever lived.