Mahatma Gandhi and Indian CinemaMahatma Gandhi was a man of many facets, whose writings covered every possible subject, including: agriculture, education, science , sanitation, economy, literature, industry. , women, children, health, family planning, religion and, of course, politics. Many were surprised to learn of his prolific writings and were stunned to learn that he had probably written more than anyone in history (his collected works number over 100 volumes, several hundred pages each). Mahatma Gandhi was born in an era of gradual evolution in communication technologies. Unfortunately, he was born in a country that was under the influence of foreign domination. Mahatma Gandhi, was a passionate opponent of modernity and technology, preferring the pencil to the typewriter, the loincloth to the suit, the plowed field to the belching factory, printed words to moving images. Moving images first appeared in India in the early 20th century, when the country was on the verge of major social and political changes. A society that has remained unchanged for centuries is transforming in the face of technological innovations. Cars, airplanes, radio broadcasts, and photographic recordings have recently been introduced, bringing with them new status symbols as well as access to foreign ideas. At the same time, the press has become a new force in shaping public opinion, as newspapers in regional languages, especially Hindi, are published across the country. It is in this context that cinema was born. In the decades that followed, it would take on the dimensions of a major sociocultural force. Mahatma Gandhi expressed his disapproving views on cinema in 1927 when the Indian Film Committee sent him a request, along with a questionnaire, about his views. on cinema. Gandhiji returned the questionnaire with an unfavorable comment in a letter addressed to T. Rangachriar, Chairman of the Committee, stating that he had opinions to offer as he denied cinema as a "sinful technology". The letter of November 12, 1927 said: "Even if that were what I wanted, I would not be able to answer your questionnaire because I have never been to a cinema. But even for foreigners, what it has done and what he is doing is obvious. The good if it is done at all remains to be proven."He refused to even send a message...... middle of paper...... d. Essentially, it revolves around Gandhi's experiences in South Africa which transformed him from Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, the coolie lawyer, into Mahatma Gandhi who could understand the plight of colonized peoples as being the same wherever they had been subjugated to “white” oppression. . Benegal made this film after two and a half years of work on the script and 12 drafts later. Scripted with Dr. Fatima Meer and Shama Zaidi, Making of The Mahatma excelled in its broadcasts in many countries abroad, but was never released commercially in India. With the exception of these two major films, there has not been much work on any aspect of The Life of Gandhi. Indian filmmakers have not tried hard enough to deal directly with Gandhian ideology in the film. Filmmakers are usually called dream merchants. They sell dreams to their audience. But when it came to making a film about Gandhi's passionate concern for non-violence, very few filmmakers came forward. Perhaps it seems that there are no frequent buyers. The political and social upheavals that have taken place since India's independence have destroyed the very basis of the composite Gandhian root (if any) in..