Q: What inspired you to explore this particular aspect of Gandhi's life and not his role as a social reformer or a freedom fighter?
  
A: The media including films and theatre had exhaustively examined Gandhi's iconic status and role as a national leader. One can refer to hundreds of books on Gandhi's thought process and idealism. Besides the dozens of documentaries stressing the role of Gandhi as the Father of the Nation, there were two major feature films, Attenborough's epic 'Gandhi' and Shyam Benegal's 'Making of a Mahatma'. Most of these deal with the myth that was Gandhi. That is important and needed, but in the process Gandhi was made out not as a human being but a god-like figure, to be seen and worshipped from a distance. Very little is known about Gandhi the Man and his family life. His autobiography hardly mentions son Harilal and the stormy relationship he had
with his father. The personal Gandhi story has not been explored, it was an exciting challenge. I was given a glimpse of this compelling, deeply moving story by one of Gandhi's grandsons, Gopal Gandhi, now governor of West Bengal. It played on my mind and I stored it away hoping to use it sometime in the future.
  
Q: The film pits the saga of duty against family relationships with duty coming first?
  
A: That is correct. The story is one of a classic clash between certain convictions and values and family aspirations. Most Indian families were closely knit. These were times in traditional joint families where words of the elders were not challenged and the younger members had to make sacrifices. In such an environment it was thought that collective social good was more important than individual aspirations. We have to understand the era,when these values were in vogue; in fact it was they which helped us to win freedom.
  
Q: Today's generation will find it hard to accept Gandhi's argument that prison would have provided a better education to Harilal than going to England and study Law on a scholarship. He could have come back, better equipped to help the Movement which did need legal brains.
  
A: Gandhi regarded his sons as soldiers fighting for freedom and equality of man. Pure individualism and materialism of the Industrialised West without social responsibilities would not improve society. Gandhi always preferred 'education of the soul' to mere academics. The Phoenix settlement in South Africa was expected to create such young men and women. Don't forget Gandhi was deeply influenced by the idealism expressed in Ruskin's 'Unto the Last' and Count Tolstoy's views endorsing manual labour. He appreciated the concept of Trappist monasteries in creating ideal men, women and communities. Naturally, Harilal going to England to study Law did not appeal to him.
  
Q: How selfish can a father be, in not encouraging his son to marry and then keeping the couple far apart?
  
A: We can view it like this. Gandhi wanted Harilal to become something before assuming responsibilities of marriage and a family. He must have recollected his own marriage at a very young age. Later on, he urged separation because according to him, it symbolized sacrifice. Our myths conveyed this message, Ram was separated from Sita, and it happened in other epics too. Ram was Gandhi's hero and he also was influenced by
Bhagvad Gita which preached non attachment
  
Q: Was Harilal born to fail? He seemed to have the Midas touch in reverse, whatever he touched turned to ashes.
  
A: Yes, all the accounts of his life emphasized this fact. He was marked for misfortune and in hindsight could have benefited with some extra help and understanding. Gandhi kept trying to get him back on the right path, even made exceptions, but he had drifted too far.
  
Q: Did Gandhi really believe that the boycott of foreign cloth and propagation of the 'Charkha' (spinning wheel) would benefit Indian economy? To many people the idea appears to be bizarre?
  
A: Gandhi was a past master in using simple, symbolic ideas to create mass movements. For him, 'Charkha' (spinning wheel) stood for self reliance and mass employment. He was not opposed to mill cloth per se, only the foreign variety. Don't forget that among his close friends were several Indian mill owners. The burning of passes issued to Indians in White South Africa, the burning of foreign mill cloth and the 'dandi' march to protest against the salt tax turned out to be massive symbolic protests which captured the attention and imagination of the entire world.
  
Q: The film depicts religious conversions by Harilal on two occasions. These are delicate issues even today. Though Gandhi argued it did not matter to him whether Harilal was Hari or Abdulla, it seemed to have affected Kasturba strongly.
  
A: Yes, the two reactions differed. Kasturba thought of the political implications of Harilal's conversion and his public statements that he expected his parents to follow in his footsteps. This public statement disturbed the mother. If such a move brought him inner peace, it was okay with the parents, but why make it a pubic issue and also drag them into it? Also, the Mother had the responsibility of explaining to Harilal's children the implications of their father's action. This hurt her and she felt that Harilal finally had crossed the line of no return.
  
Q: One of the most moving scenes in the film is where the unkempt, bearded Harilal fights his way in the crowded railway station to meet his parents traveling in a train. . He brings with him an orange which he offers to his mother and turns away from the father. Was this the final rejection? Did the episode happen as portrayed in the film?
  
A: Yes, it really happened and documented in several books. The dialogue in fact was almost verbatim of what was spoken. Throughout the making of the film, I was on the lookout for such dramatic scenes, and this was one of the best
  
Q: How far was Gandhi responsible for the partition of the sub continent? Even today, the right wing political parties blame Gandhi for the creation of Pakistan and he paid for this with his life. Some people felt this issue was side tracked in the film.
  
A: Although it's a personal story, the film has dealt with this in some detail. Remember his words, “You can cut me into pieces but I will never be a willing party to the partition of my country.” We must understand that by the time independence came to India, Gandhi had become irrelevant to politicians. They found him a hindrance to their ambitions and assuming power. The ageing Indian National Congress wanted power, so did Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the main advocate for Pakistan, who was terminally ill. And after ruling India for over 200 years, the British felt partition was the ideal andonly solution. They literally wanted to pack up and leave India to 'God and
Anarchy'.India had become an Economic burden for them. In fact Gandhi hoped that after the madness of partition, there would be a rethinking, some kind of reconciliation and the two parts would unite once more. Remember, Gandhi was not a part of the Independence Day celebrations; he was in distant Noakhali on a peace march trying to stop communal killings. But as a last, only chance to avoid further bloodshed, Gandhi
had to agree to partition and this was held against him by the Indian right wing, communal parties. Gandhi survived three assassination attempts from these groups before being shot dead.
  
Q: Your film skips the actual assassination scene. Any reasons for this?
  
A: This has been repeatedly shown in documentaries and the other films on Gandhi. I focused on how the common man reacted to the death and shot the scene in the rundown tea shop where Harilal is seen at the time of the assassination. Everyone felt that the nation had lost its father, and I linked this sentiment with the speech of Nehru (India's first Prime Minister) which is deeply moving. Too many details, I felt, would reduce the impact of the tragedy.
  
Q: Tell me something about your early impressions of Gandhi, I mean, when you were in college?
  
A: I thought of him as an old, benign, kind man who fought for our freedom. His views on truth and non violence appealed to me and he was the yardstick to measure goodness. I was deeply moved by Sir Richard Attenborough's 'Gandhi', I am not ashamed to confess I was moved to tears. The film was so different from the Government's Films Division documentaries. Sir Richard made the world aware of Gandhi's greatness, spirituality and universal appeal.
  
Q: You were a leading theatre director and your play 'Mahatma vs. Gandhi won acclaim all over. What were your reactions when offers were made to you to direct the film on Gandhi?
  
A: I directed the play because I was moved by the compelling biography of Harilal and his turbulent relationship with his father. Mind you, the film was not based on the play.Its real source was Harilal's authentic biography by Chandulal Dalal - a renowned Gandhian scholar which was the factual basis for the novel and the play. Early on when offers came to direct the film, I did not think I was upto it, the reasons were more aesthetic than commercial. If I directed the film, I would not sacrifice the creative aspect for the commercial ones. I had to do the screenplay myself and when the bits and pieces fell in their places, I was more confident. The turbulent saga of more than 50 years had to be condensed into two hours; the exploration of the human relationship should be fair to both Harilal and Gandhi. You see, What Gandhi did for the country and humanity was far more than what he could not do for his son. Fortunately, the screenplay brought this out clearly.
  
Q: Theater was your first love. What were your early impressions of films?
  
A: I grew up on heavy doses of Indian films, mostly Hindi. I was more attracted to realistic and emotional movies. In college, through film societies, I got exposed to world cinema Kurosawa, Bergman, Fellini, Wajda, Satyajit Ray were my favorites.
  
Q: In some of your stage versions of the episode, you had cast leading screen actors as Gandhi, but opted for a lesser known stage actor for the film. What were you looking for when you cast Darshan Jariwala as Gandhi? And for that matter, Kasturba and Gulab.
  
A: I was not making an Indian masala film, I had to have an actor from Gujarat, the state of Gandhiji's birth, for the right body language which would be natural. He must be at an age where he can look both young and old! Of course, I did consider some fine actors, but the final choice had to be Darshan. Shefali was an early and easy choice for Kasturba. I had seen her work on stage and films. She sacrificed the leading role in Mira Nair's 'Namesake' to do this part. I will always remember that. Bhumika (Gulab) worked wonderfully in her very first audition, you know, the kind of innocence she radiated was what was needed. Of course, she is a big star in regional cinema and made an impact on the Hindi screen too.
  
Q: Akshaye Khanna who played Harilal is not amongst the top commercial stars. Do you think this film would change all that?
  
A: We screen tested several actors for this role. There is something about a moviecamera and the screen testing process to emphasise the 'screen presence' of an actor. Some of the stage actors failed here. Anil had always admired Akshaye and suggested his name provided he passed the merit test. He did. Akshaye gave all his time and energy for the role and fulfilled my wish of being an actor, not a star. No ego hassles, no star tantrums and the result is for everyone to see. Akshaye is Harilal
  
Q:-Tell us something about the early days of the shooting.

A: Very early I realized that film was a highly technical medium. As a theater director I had a reputation to defend and feared it was in danger. Initially, it was a traumatic experience. Meticulous study and planning were needed to call out “Action” and “Cut”. I visited all locations, took shots on the Videocam and developed clear ideas how I was going to shoot every scene. Mind you, we were shooting two films, one Hindi and the other English. In between the first and second schedule, I spent a few days with my editor, learning what I should do and should not from the material shot. Because I felt claustrophobic within studio sets I opted for as many locations as possible - South Africa, Pune, Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Mahabaleshwar. Yes, it was a baptism by fire for me. But there was always Anil Kapoor encouraging, advising. He was a great help.
  
Q: The film was shot in some of the most communally sensitive areas of Ahmedabad, where of late, there had been a lot of communal tension. Did you face any problems? A: We shot in the narrow lanes called 'pols' at Khadia which is communally sensitive. And I was a Muslim director making a film on Gandhi. But once the people knew how we were working and what we were trying to convey, there were no problems. They went out of their way to help us, kept their telephones, alarm clocks and washing machines silent so that our sound track would not be disturbed. The unit had plenty of lunch and dinner invitations. The choice of these 'pols' and the official permission to shoot in them was finalized with the help of Debhasish Nayak, the Heritage advisor of
the city Municipal corporation, he was a great help. I felt slightly apprehensive while shooting the sensitive scene where Harilal got converted to Islam at Sarkhej Roza, a Muslim shrine. We shot early in the morning and there was no trouble. What I learnt from my experience was that the average Gujarati was incapable of carrying feelings ofhatred for long periods. On the very first day of our shooting in Ahmedabad at Adalaj, a Step well, I drove past Gandhi's Sabarmati Ashram. It was early morning and on an impulse I walked into the ashram. Gandhi's room, “Hriday Kunj' was locked but the caretaker who was there opened it for me. I went in, bowed my head in prayer and asked for Bapu's blessings. Obviously, I got it because thereafter it was smooth sailing till the end of the shoot.
  
Q: Finally, how did you approach the film? As History, melodrama or packed with human interest?
  
A: Two things. Anything on Gandhi had to have the epic sweep. The story was packed with human interest which should not be reduced to melodrama and a TV soap opera. Melodrama exaggerates reality to a point that it becomes unbelievable. Your audience should be moved but not emotionally exhausted. Remember Kasturba's death scene. The silence is telling, it is deliberate, broken only by the recitation of Sanskrit shlokas (hymns). There is just one scene with some obvious drama, that is where Harilal, while writing a letter to his father, runs out in the street and screams in public that he is Gandhi's son, but a total failure, unemployed and unable to pass examinations. There were reasons for this scene. Harilal's life was full of high drama. Second, the letter he
was writing to his father was full of harsh accusations and I wanted to show his anger which could not be conveyed by just reading out the letter. The scene is juxtaposed with the loud 'Mahabharat' street play and the dramatic intensity signified the final break between father and the son.