Feroz Abbas Khan talks about the various aspects of Gandhi My Father
Features
-Staff
By Staff
Thursday,
August
09,
2007
All
of
us
know
about
Gandhi's
contribution
to
the
Indian
independence
struggle
and
his
principles
of
non-violence.
But
very
few
of
us
know
about
the
struggles
in
his
personal
life.
Gandhi
My
Father
is
the
story
of
the
Mahatma's
relationship
with
his
eldest
son
Harilal,
whom
he
eventually
disowned.
Director
Feroz
Abbas
Khan
talks
about
his
film
and
Indian
independence.
What
message
do
you
want
to
give
to
the
audience
through
Gandhi
---
My
Father?
I
have
tried
to
portray
the
relationship
between
Gandhiji
and
his
son
Harilal.
A
father-son
relationship
is
usually
quite
complicated.
That
is
what
I
have
tried
to
portray
in
my
movie.
Why
is
the
character
of
Harilal
so
aggressive
in
your
film?
Actually,
failures
make
Harilal
aggressive.
Luck
plays
a
very
vital
role
in
everyone's
life.
That's
why
even
Kasturba
had
once
said
that
Harilal
was
not
bad
at
heart,
it
was
just
that
his
luck
didn't
favour
him.
Don't
you
think
that
at
times
Harilal
wanted
to
humiliate
his
father?
He
wants
to
do
something
different
on
his
own.
He
takes
money
to
start
a
garment
business.
But
runs
out
of
luck.
Initially,
he
supports
Gandhiji
wholeheartedly
in
everything
the
Mahatma
did.
He
used
to
take
pride
in
being
called
Junior
Gandhi.
Whom
have
you
held
wrong
in
this
movie?
Even
if
I
want
to,
I
cannot
hold
anyone
wrong
in
the
movie.
Because
both
Gandhiji
and
Hari
Lal
were
right
from
their
viewpoints.
A
lot
of
people
might
think
that
Gandhiji
was
unjust
to
his
son
by
letting
his
nephew
go
to
England
to
become
a
barrister,
instead
of
sending
Harilal.
However,
Gandhiji
had
a
soft
corner
for
Harilal.
In
fact,
that's
why
he
forgave
Harilal's
innumerable
mistakes.
Don't
you
think
apart
from
Harilal,
Gandhji's
other
three
sons
should
also
have
featured
in
the
film?
You
are
right,
but
we
had
just
two
hours.
We
could
project
only
those
people
and
instances
which
were
most
important.
Had
we
featured
the
other
sons
we
would
have
had
to
cut
down
on
Harilal's
character,
which
we
didn't
want
to
do.
How
important
is
freedom
to
you?
Well,
today
whatever
we
all
are
is
because
of
political
freedom.
But
still,
there
are
a
lot
of
people
who
are
not
socially
and
economically
independent
yet.
Till
the
time
all
of
us
don't
get
complete
freedom
we
cannot
call
our
country
free.
Don't
you
feel
that
we
Indians
have
forgotten
those
who
fought
for
our
freedom?
The
issue
is
not
how
many
or
how
much
about
the
freedom
fighters
we
remember
today.
The
question
is
whether
we
respect
their
values
and
morals
and
implement
them
in
our
daily
lives.
The
leaders
of
yesteryear
laid
down
their
lives
for
us
and
it
will
be
more
than
enough
if
we
can
carry
forward
and
fulfill
their
dreams.
That
would
mean
much
more
to
their
families
than
just
remembering
the
martyrs.
Are
we
not
taking
undue
advantage
of
our
freedom?
I
feel
that
only
a
prisoner
can
understand
freedom's
worth.
It
is
because
of
freedom
that
our
Constitution
grants
us
the
power
to
establish
a
democracy
in
our
country.
But
now,
India
has
reached
stagnation
and
needs
to
progress.
It
is
important
now
that
everyone
in
this
country
gets
social
and
economic
justice.
You
are
from
a
theater
background.
What
according
to
you
is
the
difference
between
film
direction
and
drama
direction?
There's
a
lot
of
difference
between
the
two.
In
theater,
words
play
the
most
important
role
and
in
films,
it's
the
visuals.
In
theater,
we
can
personify
objects
and
even
use
symbols
to
depict
objects
or
ideas.
Whereas
in
films,
we
can't
do
so.