Gandhi as failed father does not enthuse sponsors

NEW DELHI, December 22: We may have sniggered at the intemperate neighbours for having stopped Channel-4 from filming a biopic on Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, but we are not very far behind. A domestic drama based on Mahatma Gandhi’s personal life got equally cold shouldered here.

The Feroze Khan-directed epic play in English, Mahatma vs Gandhi, which premiered at the Kamani Auditorium here on Saturday, could not get a single sponsorship in spite of its star billing — Naseeruddin Shah plays the Mahatma. And this is at time when corporate sponsorships come dime a dozen even for amateur children’s musicals.

The reason? The corporate and government sponsors found the play too controversial. A number of them felt that the great leader who is regarded and respected as the Father of the Nation could not be shown a failed father in the nation’s golden jubilee year. This is no time to dig up uncomfortable facts that have been buried for good, was one of the likely sponsors response. The play, written by Ajit Dalvi and translated from Marathi by Mukta Rajadhyaksha, does bring out a few skeletons from the Gandhi family cupboard. It attempts to re-examine the Mahatma’s troubled relationship with his wayward son Harilal, who on several occasions cheated people of their money, took to alcohol, visited prostitutes, converted to Islam to become Abdullah Gandhi. Only to be renamed Hiralal, an Arya Samaji later. Says the event manager, "We approached at least 20 corporate houses and even some government bodies, but no one dared to back the play. Without giving us a chance to explain the script, they said it was too controversial for their image and might get them into trouble." Harilal’s granddaughter, Urmi Ben Parikh’s widely publicised protest for during the staging of the Marathi version of the play also made the sponsors back out in fear of another imminent tussle.