Gandhi

Gandhi (1982)

Timing: 3:11 (191 min)

7.563/10
2488

8.049/10
31516

8/10
247000

All about film

Video 1

Photo 55

Actors and characters

Release date

1982-12-01

Country

India, United Kingdom, United States

Production

Columbia Pictures, Goldcrest, National Film Development Corporation of India, International Film Investors, Indo-British

Genre

Drama, History

Budget

$22 000 000

Revenue

$77 737 889

Website

Director

Richard Attenborough

Actors

Ben Kingsley, Candice Bergen, Edward Fox, John Gielgud, Trevor Howard, John Mills, Rohini Hattangadi, Martin Sheen, Ian Charleson, Harsh Nayyar
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

John Briley

Producer

Richard Attenborough, Terence A. Clegg, Michael Stanley-Evans

Operator

Ronnie Taylor

Composer

George Fenton

Artist

Cliff Robinson, Agnes Fernandez

Audition

Dolly Thakore

Editing

John Bloom
All team (150)

• The filming of Mahatma Gandhi's funeral involved over 300,000 people, which was recognized in the Guinness Book of Records as an absolute record for cinema. Among them were over 200,000 volunteers who came forward voluntarily and 94,560 people who received a small fee under contract. The scene was filmed on January 31, 1981, the 33rd anniversary of Gandhi's funeral. Only eleven members of the film crew shot over 6 kilometers of film, which was reduced to 125 seconds of screen time in the final version of the film.
• Advertisements urging Indians to come for the filming of the largest funeral scene for Gandhi were placed in newspapers and distributed as leaflets around the city. Attendees were required to wear only white clothing, and special turnstiles were installed as a security measure to check arriving people.
• Ben Kingsley's father was originally from the Indian state of Gujarat, the same state where Mahatma Gandhi was born and raised.
• Alec Guinness and Anthony Hopkins auditioned for the role of Gandhi.
• Among the candidates for the lead role were also Tom Courtenay, John Hurt, and Dustin Hoffman. The latter showed considerable enthusiasm but received an invitation to star in 'Tootsie' (1982) and ultimately preferred that project.
• The film marked the last cinematic role for renowned British actors Sir John Clements and John Boxer.
• All scenes featuring Trevor Howard as Judge Broomfield were completed in two days of filming.
• In a small scene involving John Ratzenberger, his voice was dubbed by another actor.
• No film studio expressed the slightest interest in financing the film. Part of the funds was obtained from producer Joseph E. Levine in exchange for director Richard Attenborough agreeing to film 'A Bridge Too Far' (1977) and 'Magic' (1978) for him beforehand. Another portion of the money was raised by selling the rights to the popular British play 'The Mousetrap,' which were owned by Richard Attenborough and his wife, and the remaining funds were provided by several major British companies.
• Filming took place from November 26, 1980, to May 10, 1981, in India and the United Kingdom.
• The official premiere was held in a solemn atmosphere on November 30, 1982, in Delhi, the capital of India.