The 1982 epic biographical film directed by Richard Attenborough about the life of Mahatma Gandhi is Gandhi.
Ben Kingsley stars as Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, tracing his development from a young lawyer in South Africa into the leader of India’s independence movement. The film emphasizes Gandhi’s use of nonviolent resistance against British rule and his efforts to address religious conflict during the partition era.
Attenborough spent many years developing the project, which was produced by International Film Investors and distributed by Columbia Pictures. The large-scale production recreated major events including the 1919 Amritsar massacre, the Salt March, and Gandhi’s assassination in 1948.
The film received eleven Academy Award nominations and won eight, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor for Kingsley. It is a dramatized biography, so some scenes compress timelines and simplify complex political relationships, but Gandhi is the canonical title and answer.