EXCLUSIVE: Mahatma Gandhi’s Life to Be Described in Detail in a multi-season streaming period drama series similar to Netflix’s global blockbuster CrownThe date may reveal.
Sameer Nair, a local Applause Entertainment producer, has acquired the rights to Indian historian and journalist Ramachandra Guha’s. Gandhi before India and Gandhi – The years that changed the world – a pair of biographies that are among the most complete ever written about the iconic man.
The series will range from Gandhi’s earliest days, through his work as a lawyer in South Africa, to the struggle for independence in India, and tells lesser-known stories of his life that played an important role in shaping the Mahatma (the worshipers in the South). East Asia). It also tells the stories of all his compatriots and contemporaries from the freedom movement, who played an integral role in shaping what became a free and modern India.
Casting is in full swing, and applause names Pratik Gandhi – the surname is coincidental – as Gandhi, who, before his tragic assassination in 1947, rose from a lawyer in a campaign to lead India to independence from the British Empire.
“Pratik is a great actor who has been on the Gujarati scene for the last 20 years, but in one of our series he broke through as a shameful stockbroker. [Scam 1992]Nair said. “He recently led a monologue; a game for one man in three languages about Gandhi’s younger years, so he’s already immersed in the material and reading Rama’s books. We’ll build our universe around him.”
Nair – former CEO of Star, NDTV and Balaji Telefilms, whose Applause company is behind the Indian remake Office and several other high-profile Indian series and films – has set up a space for writers to develop screenplays and expects to shoot in Gujarati, Hindi and English to ensure “authenticity”.
He is currently speaking with potential production partners and exploration sites throughout India, South Africa and the United Kingdom – the countries where Gandhi lived and the books say. Filming is scheduled to begin in the summer of 2023.
Guha, one of India’s leading authorities in modern history, told the Deadline that the scope of his volumes – which focused on Gandhi’s life as a lawyer and civil rights activist in South Africa between 1893 and 1914 and his subsequent return to India, defining history – they lend themselves perfectly into a deep, rich, multi-part series.
They include more than 150 characters of “all faiths, cultures and classes” who have personal interactions with Gandhi, “opponents, collegial, respectful and family”, which means that the film format could not reach a fair scale.
“The two-hour format has its attractions, but there is a certain superficiality,” Guha said. “Look at Crown, it’s about the whole history of the 20th century. We can convey Gandhi’s story – his achievements, controversies, struggles and friendships – to a new audience, in a complementary but completely different way than the book.
Ramachandran said that although there were several strong depictions of Gandhi on the screen in the past, such as Richard Attenborough, the 1982 Oscar winner Gandhiseries similar Crown will allow viewers to delve deeper into the character’s motivations. He pointed out how Gandhi’s relations with his major political rivals, Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Veer Savarkar, were largely ignored on the screen.
“Attenborough’s film was good for its time and got Gandhi back into circulation. It has a very neat story, “he said. “But Jinnah, who founded Pakistan, was the main character in the film and Savarkar’s relationship with him was complicated. In a multi-part series, you can say much more about Gandhi. ”
Applause has contracted multiple performances with the Southeast Asian streamer ZEE5 Global, but Nair and his team have also created content for Netflix and Amazon and are yet to place this significant development as a streaming partner.
“We consider it part of the global streaming universe,” Nair said. “Gandhi is a global figure and that is very important. It is the history of mankind. We feel that this is a big problem – it is an Indian story with global implications.
“We’re deep in writing, we’re going to continue reviewing the cast over the next six months because it’s a big cast that we have to put together, and we’re going to watch filming next summer,” he said. “At Applause, we’re working to put it all together and make great progress first.” We had the first few interviews with the streamers, but later in the year it gains momentum. All systems are gone now. ”
