Tushar Gandhi Speaks To Subhash K Jha On The Portrayal Of His Grandfather Mahatma Gandhi In Lage Raho Munnabhai.

What do you feel about the revival of Gandhism through films like Rang De Basanti and Lage Raho Munnabhai?
These are very timely and appropriate works. I'd also like to include Ashutosh Gowariker's Swades. That film epitomizes Gandhi's values. Unfortunately it was like a documentary. It didn't get the boxoffice success it deserved.

It should've been less sermonistic more humorous. I told Ashutosh that Swades should be shown in every educational institutions. We're all waiting for the messiah to come. We don't realize the messiah is within all of us.

What did you think of the way Mahatma Gandhi has been portrayed in Lage Raho Munnabhai?
It's almost as if a new generation has discovered Bapu. For today's generation Bapu would've been a forgotten factor if he didn't have his photographs on currency notes.

More than Bapu, this film shows the power of satyagraha. Many people thought woh sirf Britishers ke zamane mein hota tha.

Do you think turning the other cheek is a good option in these times?
Not when you're dealing with global terrorism. But in normal day-to-day living I think satyagraha still works. See how much violence has grown in our lives. For society dealing internally with strife, non-violence is a viable option.

Let me also point out to you that even Bapu knew the limits of satyagraha. When aggression happened in Kashmir he didn't go on his fast-unto-death. Instead he endorsed the military attack as the dharma of the army. Satyagraha wasn't a dogma for him.

Otherwise Bapu wouldn't have condoned the socialist violence during the Quit India Movement. He agreed violence and counter-violence were equally relevant. But does violence today yield any positive results?

Finally Bush's war on terrorism is getting us nowhere. Even the annihilation of Lebanon hasn't made Israel any safer.

What do you think of Raj Kumar Hirani's 'Gandhi-giri'?
It's a welcone coinage. People today can identify with it more than other terms like Gandhism and Gandhi-vaad. These were too elitist bookish and for a senior generation. Gandhi-giri is identifiable by the common man.

And that's the language Bapu always spoke. I think the language of Gandhi-giri would've been spoken by Bapu if he were alive today. I really feel this film tells something that needs to be told.

Anything that promotes Bapu is very dear to me. My entire existence is dependent on Bapu's ideas. In a very selfish way I'm very pleased with Raju Hirani's Gandhi-giri.

And I was zapped by Sanjay Dutt's performance. What a long way he has come as an actor. I was dumbstuck by his performance.

What did you think of Dilip Prabhavalkar as Mahatma Gandhi?
I told Raju Hirani I'd have preferred Dilip without the make-up. He has a very expressive face. But he doesn't resemble Bapu. I'd have no issues with that if he didn't try to imitate Bapu's physicality.

Because of the makeup Dilip's face was almost frozen throughout the film..That was unjust to an actor as versatile Dilip Prabhavalkar.

Are you a major movie buff?
I love movies. But not the elitist kind. I love films like The Terminator (laughs). I like films showing Rajnikanth beating up a dozen goons. I keep telling my wife that all my pen-up violence is vented in watching action movies.

Once in a while I like movies that make me think. Generally I go to the theatres to clap and whistle, though I can't whistle as loud as I'd like to. My family refuses to accompany me to comedies.

Because I almost fall over with glee. Sometimes I'm the only one laughing in the theatre. I was laughing throught Lage Raho Munnabhai. But because of the theme I was continuously scanning the audience for their reaction.

I think Sanju and Arshad Warsi were even better in this than in Munnabhai MBBS. The magic of it is that it's enjoyable to every level of intellect.

What do you think of the next Gandhi film Mahatma Versus Gandhi (produced by Anil Kapoor) which will go into the troubled relationship between Gandhiji and his son?
Yes,Bapu and Harilal Kaka. It's a very tragic episode in the life of Bapu and the family. But nevertheless authentic. Such humanization is important. Bapu's personality is like an onion.

You go into layers and layers and you discover more about him. I for one am not comfortable with the deification of Bapu. I want him to be more human, so he can be more inspirational. Let people see him in all his facets, as a man who overcame all his failings.

In Lage Raho... there's a poignant dialogue where Bapu wants people to enhrine him in their hearts. In the past sixty years Bapu has been reduced to a subject for an elitist club.

It's a crime to imprison Bapu as being elitist. Don't abuse him, but please criticise Bapu constructively.

What did you think of Richard Attenborough's Gandhi?
It did justice to the personality. Raju Hirani has done justice to his philosophy. Attenborough's film proved inspirational all over the world. This 7/11 there wll be many screenings of Attenborough's film in American universities. Ben Kingsley did a good job of playing Bapu.

However I thought Bapu had been portrayed as fickle in Raj Kumar Santoshi's The Legend Of Bhagat Singh. But my favourite Gandhi was Atul Kulkarni in the stage play Gandhi Virudh Gandhi. He caught on to the essence of Bapu.

What did you think of Rang De Basanti?
Though I liked the film the conclusion was inapplicable and problematic. It just offered an emotional eruption. The parallels between the freedom fighters and today's youth was interesting but inaccurate. I appreciated the parallels between history and contemporary times. I thought it was a technically brilliant film.

So are you saying it trivialized history?
I'd say so. This generation would think Bhagat Singh and his compatriots to be idle merrymakers who one day woke up to the country's freedom. I don't claim to be an expert on Bapu. No one can. But Lage Raho Munnabhai touched a chord.

Incidentally 9/11 is the centenary of the satyagraha movement. Lage Raho Munnabhai is a week before 9/11 and espouses Gnadhi's ideas. Nothing can celebrate satyagraha better than this film.