Attenborough’s Gandhi – Salman Rushdie NAME : RAVI BHALIYAROLL NO : 24PAPER : THE POST-COLONIAL LITERATUREM.A : SEM -3ENROLLMENT NO : 14101004YEAR : 2015-16EMAIL : RAVIBHALIYA5@GMAILCOMSUBMITTED TO : SMT .S.B . GARDI

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH MAHARAJA KRISHNAKUMARSINHJI BHAVNAGAR UNIVERSITY

Index

• Introduction• About the Film• Reason Behind making Film• Deification is an Indian Disease• Why These Character are absent ?• Amritsar massacre• Anti Gandhi Voice• Conclusion

Introduction Salman Rushdie is a provocative

writer who likes to remain in controversy for one or the other things.

Diasporic writer is someone who is away from his/her homeland and write about his/her homeland.

So when diasporic writer is writing something, it differs in a way.

In writers mind there is love for motherland and at the same time hate as well. So there is always conflict goes on within him.

About the Film • In the essay ‘Attenborough’s

Gandhi’ in which Salman Rushdie talks about the movie ‘Gandhi’.

• The film is about a biography ,not a political work .even if one aspects this distinction, one must reply that a biography, if it is not turn into hagiography, (see only one side) aspects of the subjects as well as loveable side.

• Attenborough’s Gandhi –essay deals with the Indian leader called Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi.

Reason behind making the Film• There is a general say in every one’s case that he [or she] lives with critical

period and died with praiseworthy comments.

• Someone’s presence might be blamed and accused but his/her death brings sudden sharp turn and that person is admired like Gandhi.

• That is what happens with Richard Attenborough who produced the film Gandhi.

• The reason behind making a film may be the director wanted to give a new image or the way western countries wanted to see him like an Indian Empire and its spiritual and mystical wisdom.

“This was worse than nonsense. It is dangerous nonsense Non-Violence was a strategy chosen for a particular people Against a particular oppressor; to generalize from it is a suspect act…”

The Reason say Salman Rushdie might be viewing Gandhi as a spiritual mystical person. He view that when he saw this movie that time he found that Attenborough unfortunately saw the image of Gandhi as a Christ and comparison with Christ. And we can say that Gandhi is a spiritual person.

Gandhi as a Mahatma

Deification is an Indian Disease

First of all, why they have chosen Gandhi? Not any other patriotic figure or spiritual figure like Sardar Patel? Subhas Bose? Why no Tagore?

Why These Character are absent ?

/

?

Amritsar massacre

There are many powerful sequences in this movie. For example the Amritsar massacre. In court martial an Englishman asks the question about Jallianwala Bagh to Dyer.

The scene say that his actions were those of a cruel and immediately after condemned by Anglo-Indian.

And when he returned to England he was given a heroic welcome. An appeal fund launch on his behalf made him a rich man.

Tagore disgusted by the British reaction to the massacre return his knighthood.

Anti Gandhi Voice

Continue..

In the Attenborough has not presented Gandhi’s

thought about ‘ Brahmcharya’ . The book ‘ My Experiments with the truth ’ is not fully justified we know Gandhiji’s notion and practice about Brahmcharya, the matter is of ambiguity .

Jwaharlal Nehru has been presented as the disciple of Gandhiji. While actually he sharing the same stage with Gandhiji.

Mohammad ali Jinnah is presented as villaneous figure for India .actually Jinnah has same intellect and passion for India as Gandhiji as ,in movie his character presented as Count Dracula.

. Subhash Chandra Bose has viewed as a violent

man like Guerrilla, supporting Japanese, fighting with Britishers. There is one more controversial example regarding gaining freedom without unarmed

A Few words more, we can say that Salman Rushdie has written an article about “Attenborough’s Gandhi” in which he has indicated about Gandhi and also made criticism on him. He didn’t write only good things about but also wrote and made mockery on him. He writes also about Nathuram Godse and told that he was right according to him and Gandhiji was also right at his place. Therefore Rushdie has given his views about Gandhi in this essay.Thus Rushdie gives his views about Attenborough’s film and at end ,he writes that a very significant line.

Conclusion

“ Rich men like emperors, have always had a weakness for tame holy men, for saints