After spending many 10 dollars , many friday nights of watching movies from the world of bollywood and some self introspection, I believed - "Like a physicists search for the "Higgs Boson", the hindi film industry's attempt at making movies that can entertain or leave you thinking is only futile". But then again rules or resolutions are meant to be broken. I decided to go and watch Gandhi, my father. "Only one show" they advertised, but yet half the theatre was empty .Jhoom Babarar Jhoom, had people scrambling for seats for the first show. Doesnt it say too much about the audience of the biggest movie industry. I really think the tamil movie industry totally rocks. So many movies in recent times, some masala movies, some youthful, some with a message, but they have been different (Maybe am just biased, but hell do I care, I pay 10$ to watch a movie, I do expect to see something.. yes I paid 20$ to watch Sivaji but I was entertained to its worth and maybe more, ok am a rajni fan ) ok.. back on track. Gandhi, the father of our nation. Reading "My experiments with truth" will make you feel that, he is yet another mortal with his own flaws and limitations and maybe you will get cynical about Gandhi and his principles. This movie takes you thru the life of Gandhi as he is with his elder son Harilal.. There are many things you still dont understand after watching the movie, why is Gandhi upset about his son getting married to a girl he had chosen for him, was he being selfish, did he need his son to be a part of his struggle,sacrificing his life ? but well then he was married too.. at the age of 13 (talk about marriages in those days) and the reason as to why he did not want his son to pursue his dream of studying in London. Barring a few glitches, this movie is a perfect example of a well translated tagline "“One family’s tragedy was the price of a nation’s freedom” onto the big screen. I think Akshaye Khanna as Harilal and Shefali Shah as Kasturba played their role to perfection. Akshaye Khanna has played his role with great conviction and for many people who might criticise this movie saying, a lot of the freedom struggle was thrown in unnecessarily, but isnt Gandhi all about that and that is the exact reason why he did not give the needed attention to his son, when he needed it the most. The film has its moments, you feel the patriotism rise in you.. Whether it is a footage of Panditji delivering his famous "Freedom at Midnight" speech or the scenes in South Africa, the Indian in you will certainly take over. You will be misty eyed everytime you listen to "mile sur" or the soulful rendition of vande mataram or rahman's passionate rendition of the same, so will you be, after watching some scenes in this movie. I did not regret it one bit. A little heavy for a friday evening as it may not be a perfect setting to start the weekend party.. oh yes, sometimes bollywood can make movies which are heart rendering.. A Black and now this one... maybe we should wait for eons before the next one is churned out.. till then.. enjoy some tamil movies and some great movies that hollywood has to offer.. :)
P.S : I love Physics, I tend to read and discover some fascinating things, and today I learnt abt the "Higgs Boson" and it had to find a place in my write up, well what it means is "The Higgs boson is a hypothetical massive scalar elementary particle predicted to exist by the Standard Model of particle physics. It is the only Standard Model particle not yet observed, but plays a key role in explaining the origins of the mass of other elementary particles"..