Story
This story is about Harilal Gandhi, eldest son of Mahatma Gandhi and how the father of nation ignored his own family and his son while fighting for independence. Harilal, aims to become a barrister and wants to study in England. But Gandhi's fight for Indian independence stands like a major obstacle in achieving his goal. Over a period of time, Harilal treads wrong paths and gets attracted towards wrong deed. The tag of Gandhi becomes unbearable for Harilal. He converts his religion into Muslim and reconverts to Hinduism later. He steals his company money to do the trade of foreign cloths ironically, when his father is campaigning vigorously about swadeshi cloths.

Actors performances
The performances of all characters in this film are exemplary. Darshan Jariwala is excellent as Gandhi. He resembles Gandhiji a lot. Akshaye Khanna is a revelation in this film. You feel for his character. Shefali Shah's work is first rate and she excelled in the scenes involving her son. Bhumika Chawla is awesome as Harilal's wife.

Story - Screenplay - direction: The director Feroz Abbas Khan did a brave attempt to bring the most sensitive and vulnerable side of Gandhiji to the big screen on a big scale. But while doing the basic framework, the director has overlooked the holistic perspective and concentrated only on the relationship between Gandhi and Harilal. He did not even mention anything about Gandhiji's other three sons. If anybody who does not know Gandhiji so well watch this film, they would end up believing that Gandhiji has only one son called Harilal. Director extracted great performance from his cast. His direction is very good. He could bring out genuine emotions and transport them to the hearts of audiences very well. The way he dealt the mother - son episodes in this film speaks volumes about his ability.

Other departments: Cinematography of the film is superb. Music is fine. Editing is good. The make-up department should be commended for a fine work. Costumes deserve special mention. Artwork suited the pre-independence look. Anil Kapoor deserves a pat on his back for his fine taste in making cinemas.

Analysis: We have been reading about Gandhiji since our school days. But this film gives a different account about the personal tragedy of Gandhiji as he fought for nation by devoting more time to the country. Barring certain issues the director overlooked at script level, this film is a must watch for its performances and intense moments. You end out stepping out of the theater with emotion-filled heart.

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