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In the name of the father

A family saga Anil Kapoor.

This is a story of a father and a son, of a relationship that was a tad estranged. “It was a story waiting to be told,” says actor-turned-producer Anil Kapoor. When playwright and director Feroz Abbas Khan came to him with the script of Gandhi, My Father, Anil Kapoor recollects not having second thoughts on putting his money on it. “I see it as a conventional film, not bizarre or abstract. In a clichéd way, it’s the story of a father, mother and a son – a family drama. Only that they happen to be Mahatma Gandhi, Kasturba and Harilal. When a conventional story is told in an unconventional way, the impact is tremendous,” he says.

Shefali Shah as Kasturba Gandhi.

Talking about impact, Anil Kapoor and his team are back from South Africa after a premiere. The film got its share of applause from former South African President Nelson Mandela, President Thabo Mbeki and the cabinet members. The film might also be shown in Ivory Coast and Thabo Mbeki called Anil Kapoor a goodwill ambassador to South Africa. “I still feel touched by the response. I don’t know how to react,” says Anil. Portions of the film have been shot in South Africa. He continues, “Among the audience, there were Americans, Africans, British and French nationals. The film has appealed to different viewers.”

He has no qualms about not being able to act in the film. “The scale of the project was huge; I couldn’t have worn both the hats – that of a producer and an actor. I wouldn’t have done justice to either,” he shrugs. Nevertheless, he was a hands-on producer and suggested Akshaye Khanna for Harilal’s part. “Having worked with him in Taal, I felt he had tremendous potential that was untapped. Akshaye went through the script, trusted my judgeme nt and agreed.” Despite being a mainstream commercial hero himself, Anil Kapoor did not want stars to overshadow the characters. “And nobody got star treatment on the sets. Everyone was treated equally, had to go through auditions and rehearsals and stay committed,” he says.

Darshan Jariwala, who portrayed Gandhi in Feroz Khan’s play Mahatma Vs. Gandhi, was zeroed in for the same role on screen. Shefali Shah was Feroz’s first choice for Kasturba and Bhumika Chawla plays Harilal’s wife. “The story draws from Feroz Khan’s play Mahatma Vs. Gandhi and Chandulal Dalal’s biography on Harilal. Feroz also spoke to Gandhi’s family members and has taken excerpts from letters exchanged between the fathe r, son and the mother,” explains Anil.

Translating an uneasy relationship on screen can be a tightrope walk. “We took Gandhi’s family members into confidence while making the film. The intention is not to show Gandhi or Harilal in poor light. We have cinematically represented true facts and dealt with issues sensitively,” he says.

Darshan Jariwala as Gandhi.

Anil is confident of the film’s success and tells us things are going just right for him. His next production, Short Cut, will star Akshaye Khanna and Arshad Warsi. As an actor, he has Anees Bazmee’s Welcom e, Abbas-Mustan’s Race, Subhash Ghai’s Black and White and Yash Chopra’s production Tashan. “I am going to be working in Yash Chopra’s production after 18 years,& #8221; he says with a smile.

At home, he’s busy with another task: that of grooming his daughter Sonam Kapoor, who will make her debut in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Saawariya with Rishi-Neetu Kapoor’s son Ranbir. “I groom Sonam by telling h er the ways of the industry and telling her not to lose her values. I prefer to let her find her own course in her career. She wanted to be an actress and I agreed,” says the proud father.

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