The film’s shoot commenced with an outdoor sequence in Lucknow on Friday. National Award-winning filmmaker Sudhir Mishra ’s upcoming project, with the working title Gandhi and My Mother , has gone on floors. Actor Manoj Bajpayee plays Mahatma Gandhi in the film.
The Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi (2005) director had earlier told HT City, “My mother (Durga Devendra Nath Mishra) had met Gandhi as a child and we have had long discussions with her about him. Before she passed away (in 2022), I made a promise to her that I will make a film on him. Benaras Mediaworks founder Anubhav Sinha , who is collaborating with Mishra for the second time after Afwaah (2023), shared further details. All we can share is that it’s about a 21-day chapter from Gandhi’s life. The 67-year-old filmmaker has shot multiple films in hometown Lucknow including Yeh Woh Manzil To Nahin (1987), Daas Dev (2018) and Afwaah besides his upcoming project tentatively titled Summers of 76 with actors Narendra Panjwani, Rajat Kapoor, Isha Talwar, Anoushka Pant and Saurabh Shukla. Sinha too has done multiple projects as director in the state capital including Mulk (2018), Article 15 (2019), Thappad (2020) and Bheed (2023).
“Manoj has lost considerable weight for the film and is currently in the ‘Gandhi zone’ on a restricted diet and a particular lifestyle. The film also features actors Waheeda Rehman , Divya Dutta and Saurabh Shukla . So, I wrote this script that deals with a chapter from the later stage of his life. Anubhav (Sinha, director-producer) has backed me. The film’s shoot will continue till October in Lucknow. I started working on the script after she (mother) passed away as per the promise made to her. He has also made yet-to-release film Abhi to Party Shuru Hui Hai in the city.
We just have a working title for now and we are working on a new title,” he says. My mother told me many tales about Gandhi, and she was both fascinated and angry with him, as her father joined him in the independence struggle. Earlier, Mishra had elaborated on the film’s unique narrative structure, stating, “It’s a film within a film, a dilemma of an actor and Gandhi of that time and perception today.
