55th Academy Awards · 1983
Gandhi
Directed by Richard Attenborough
“His triumph changed the world forever.”
Tap to rate
The story
In the early years of the 20th century, Mohandas K. Gandhi, a British-trained lawyer, forsakes all worldly possessions to take up the cause of Indian independence. Faced with armed resistance from the British government, Gandhi adopts a policy of 'passive resistance', endeavouring to win freedom for his people without resorting to bloodshed.
What critics & audiences say
Tomatometer89%Fresh#64 of 98 winnersIMDb8.0247K votes#37 of 98 winners
Metacritic79/ 100#63 of 93 winners
TMDB7.6/ 10
Famous lines
An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind.
In this cause, I too am prepared to die, but my friends, there is no cause for which I am prepared to kill.
Whenever I despair, I remember that the way of truth and love has always won. There may be tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they may seem invincible, but in the end, they always fail. Think of it: always.
I am a Muslim and a Hindu and a Christian and a Jew and so are all of you.
If you are a minority of one, the truth is the truth.
Mr. Gandhi will find that it takes a great deal more than a pinch of salt to bring down the British Empire.
there is no people on Earth who would not prefer their own bad government to the good government of an alien power.
I know a way out of Hell. Find a child, a child whose mother and father were killed and raise him as your own. Only be sure that he is a Muslim and that you raise him as one.
General, how does a child, shot with a .303 Lee Enfield, "apply" for help?
The function of a civil resistance is to provoke response and we will continue to provoke until they respond or change the law. They are not in control; we are.
Quotes via Wikiquote
Fun facts
- More than 300,000 extras appeared in Gandhi's funeral scene, the most for any film according to Guinness World Records.Wikipedia · Production
- David Lean and Sam Spiegel planned a Gandhi film after The Bridge on the River Kwai, reportedly with Alec Guinness as Gandhi, but abandoned it in favour of Lawrence of Arabia.Wikipedia · Production
- Richard Attenborough spent 18 years trying to get Gandhi made after Indian civil servant Motilal Kothari, a devout follower of Gandhi, approached him in 1962.Wikipedia · Production
- In the late 1960s David Lean agreed to direct Richard Attenborough's Gandhi project and offered Attenborough the lead role, but Lean went off to make Ryan's Daughter instead and the project fell apart.Wikipedia · Production
- Ben Kingsley, chosen after much speculation over who would play Gandhi, is partly of Indian heritage: his father was Gujarati and his birth name is Krishna Bhanji.Wikipedia · Casting
- Co-producer Rani Dube persuaded Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to provide the first $10 million through India's National Film Development Corporation, on the back of which the rest of the funding was raised.Wikipedia · Production
- In India, Gandhi earned over 1 billion rupees, making it one of the country's highest-grossing films at the time and the highest for a foreign film; it was shown tax free in Bombay and Delhi.Wikipedia · Box office
- Historian Patrick French argued in The Telegraph that the film spread a myth: in reality, he wrote, the railway company accepted Gandhi's demand to travel first class after the famous Pietermaritzburg incident.Wikipedia · Critical response
- Gandhi received a leading eleven Academy Award nominations and won eight, including Best Picture, Best Director for Richard Attenborough and Best Actor for Ben Kingsley.Wikipedia · Introduction
- Mark Boyle, known as 'The Moneyless Man', has said watching Gandhi was the moment that changed his life and inspired him to become an activist.Wikipedia · Critical response