Being GANDHI

So how much acting did you do?
The movie ends with Gandhi’s ashes being immersed in the Triveni Sangam (a confluence of three rivers,Ganga,Yamuna and Saraswati) in Allahabad. That is something that I actually did in 1997,so there wasn’t much acting involved as I just had to be myself. In fact,I’ve done a similar scene in Hey Ram. So it looks like my career in acting is always restricted to climatic scenes in films on Gandhi.

Did you contribute to the script in any way?
Amit had written it really well so I didn’t have much to add. He would often call me and I would discuss my ideas with him. I had even suggested that he add a qawwali song to the movie,which he did. Then there were some minor details about the immersion that I suggested,but that’s about it.

Your favourite film on Gandhi?
On a personal level,I liked Gandhi,My Father because it focuses on his family life. So,I could relate to it. As a biography,Richard Attenborough’s Gandhi is definitely the best.

You’ve written a book on the conspiracies behind Gandhi’s assassination called Let’s Kill Gandhi. Any plans of making that into a film?
If I had to make a film about Gandhi,it would either be about his childhood or his last days. My book talks about the conspiracies and I would love it to be a film but I’m sure that no one in this country will ever have the guts to produce that film.