Movies that helped shaping my thought process 1.Gandhi

The thought of selecting ten movies that shaped thinking process came to my mind while I was noting down my favorite books. I have to admit after books, movies are my food for thought. All the movies I have enlisted here cannot be called the greatest movies of all time by everyone, but they seems to have affected, inspired, encouraged, me the person and all the bizarre thoughts that engulfs me most of the time.

Now I am a lazy bone, if I plan to write about 10 movies in one blog I could never finish the project due to pressure in the day to day life and change in my interest.  

                                                                        1.Gandhi :

It was 1983 or may be 82, one of my early memories of going to movie hall and watching a movie was that of Gandhi. It was turmoil time for my states and ordinary life was frequently halted by various kinds of Bandhs. It was one such bandhs in those days we walked to the cinema hall –should be it was Apsara to see the movie –Gandhi. At the same time posters of then super hit movie –Disco Dancer was also displayed in the hall and my mind wanted to see –Disco dancer only. But we were forced to see Gandhi.

I have vivid memory of few scenes in the movie hall -like the Jallianwala bagh massacare, or Om Puri the angry rioter throwing a roti to Gandhi and appealing him to give up fast the Raghupati Raghab raja ram at the end.

Face of Om Puri that I can not forget

After that I have watched the movie n number of times, in many independence days, Republic Days, Gandhi Jayanti this movie frequents television channels even now.

Every time I watch the movie I go through a spectrum of positive thought process, many times it is about Indian History, many times about the communal feud we have, many time about perfect cinematic representation of something that actually occurred not in a distant time from today.

Later on when I was working on my original play –‘A German Dream' in 2000, I felt the pain this great man had undergone while searching truth. That feeling is a life changing event and may be the seed of this change was implanted by this great Richard Altenburg film.

I had traveled a lot to feel the smell of the place where Gandhi left his foot print, or may be to research about things I wrote and while visiting those places scenes from Attengorg’s Gandhi came to my mind as if I was present there when history was shaping up.

As in when I was Jallianwala bagh I could hear the crying baby near the  maut kakuwa(Myter’s well ) , I could hear a angry mad rioter shouting at Gandhi at the Hydari house at 26 balighata road ,Calcutta ,or in Sevagram I could perceive how could he virtually run the country from a faraway village n Maharashtra. Same is feeling evrytime I visit Rajghat or the Birla mandir in Delhi.

At that time budget of the film created a lot of controversy , some said with this budged –indian Government could have produce ten movies but as the final product was out ,the product silenced most of the query that was circulating in the media.

When the curator –Sir Richard Altenburg died, just a few days ago various article surfaced about his life long effort to make this movie a reality .26 years of patients and hard work is not a small thing at all. It may be a example of patience and pursuance to any people in the age of restlessness we are in today.

And now I lough at the thought that one day I preferred 'Disco Dancer' over Gandhi

I wanted to watch Disco Dancer over Gandhi