South African President Thabo Mbeki decided to scrap his prepared speech and opted to speak from the heart after watching the world premiere of the film "Gandhi My Father" here.

"This film is a gift to us and to the people of the world," Mbeki said Sunday after the screening, which was followed by a gala banquet. "It is an extraordinary story told in such a sensitive way."

The film, by Britain-based writer and director Feroz Abbas Khan, tells the tale of the strained relationship between Mahatma Gandhi and his eldest son Harilal, who deviated from the causes Gandhi espoused in an attempt to get the love and attention his father denied him because of the commitment to his people.

"It shows us that there is a cost attached to the causes that Mahatma Gandhi fought for - a great sacrifice," said the South African president.

Mbeki said he was leaving immediately for the Ivory Coast in West Africa, where thousands of weapons, collected after he brokered a peace between warring factions, were being destroyed.

"I will tell them about the film that I saw here tonight and take the example of Gandhi to save us from the problems of today."

Mbeki commended Bollywood actor Anil Kapoor, whom he had anointed in the South African parliament a few years ago as a goodwill ambassador, for producing the film.

He also praised the Gupta family in South Africa, originally from India and running one of the leading computer companies in the country, Sahara Computers, who produced the film jointly with Kapoor.

The director, producers and cast of the crew had hosted a media conference on Saturday to explain their roles in the film and also how they had arrived at the decision to show a different, human side to Gandhi, traditionally portrayed as the saviour of the nation in the films about his life and times.

The director thanked South African academics Hassim Seedat and Prof. Fatima Meer for their assistance in researching the life of Gandhi in South Africa at the turn of the last century, where he led the resistance against discriminatory laws before he returned to India to lead the country to independence.