The Impact of the Film "Gandhi" on the Popularity of Mahatma Gandhi and Bollywood's Missed Opportunity
Introduction
The word "Gandhi" has been synonymous with peace, non-violence, and the Indian independence movement. The frequency of the word in literature, as depicted in the graph from 1900 to 2019, provides insight into its historical and cultural significance. The graph highlights a notable spike in the popularity of the word "Gandhi" following the release of Richard Attenborough's film "Gandhi" in 1982, showcasing how impactful this cinematic representation was. This article delves into the graph's data, Bollywood's missed opportunity in creating such a pivotal film, and the Indian film industry's focus on less significant historical narratives.
The Graph: Popularity of the Word "Gandhi" (1900-2019)
The graph illustrates the frequency of the word "Gandhi" in books from 1900 to 2019. Key observations include:
- Early 20th Century: The popularity of the word "Gandhi" begins to rise in the 1920s and 1930s, correlating with Mahatma Gandhi's active role in India's independence movement.
- Mid-20th Century: There is a steady increase in the word's frequency, peaking during the 1940s and 1950s, reflecting Gandhi's continued influence and the global resonance of his philosophy.
- 1982 Spike: The most significant spike occurs in 1982, coinciding with the release of Richard Attenborough's film "Gandhi." This increase demonstrates the film's global reach and its role in reintroducing Gandhi's legacy to a wider audience.
Bollywood's Missed Opportunity
Despite the profound impact of Mahatma Gandhi on India's history, Bollywood, the Indian film industry, has surprisingly not produced a significant film about his life until much later. This absence is perplexing given the industry's prolific output and its focus on historical and biographical films. Several factors contributed to this missed opportunity:
- Commercial Priorities: Bollywood has often prioritized commercially viable projects over historically significant ones, focusing on genres that guarantee box office success.
- Political Sensitivities: Films about historical figures like Gandhi can be politically sensitive, and filmmakers may have avoided the topic to steer clear of controversy.
- Resource Allocation: Significant resources and expertise are required to create a biographical film of Gandhi's magnitude, and Bollywood may have lacked the inclination to invest in such a project.
Focus on Less Significant Narratives
While Bollywood hesitated to produce a film on Gandhi, it spent considerable time and resources on narratives surrounding figures like the Ghurid jihadists. These films, often glorifying invaders and conquerors, have been critiqued for misrepresenting Indian history and diverting attention from India's rich cultural heritage. Instead of presenting the story of Bharat and its heroes, Bollywood's fascination with less significant or controversial historical figures has drawn criticism from historians and cultural commentators alike.
Conclusion
Richard Attenborough's "Gandhi" not only brought Mahatma Gandhi's story to a global audience but also highlighted Bollywood's shortcomings in representing its own history. The graph showing the spike in the popularity of the word "Gandhi" post-1982 serves as a testament to the film's impact. It underscores the need for the Indian film industry to focus on authentic and significant historical narratives, thereby educating and inspiring future generations about the true essence of Bharat.
Methodology used:
The code used to make this conclusion is open source and shared on Kaggle.com.
https://www.kaggle.com/code/shreep/gandhimoviefactcheck
This script does the following:
- Fetches the frequency of the word "Gandhi" from Google Ngram Viewer from 1900 to 2019.
- Processes the JSON response to extract the relevant data.
- Plots the popularity of the word over time.
- Highlights the year 1982, which corresponds to the release of the film "Gandhi".
Claim of Zubair that Gandhi was more popular before the movie is false.