Adapting Gandhi/Kasturba in The Making of the Mahatma

Mahatma Gandhi has been a favorite subject with many filmmakers, historians, and writers. Lately in Bollywood, noted directors have made films that deal either with Gandhi’s eventful life or his much-discussed thoughts. Fitting into the larger nationalist discourse, Gandhi in popular Indian imagination stays either as one who, after coming from Africa, led the nation’s struggle for freedom from the front or whose ideas of non-violence have been found relevant in different times. Shyam Benegal’s The Making of the Mahatma (1996) is based on a book by Fatima Meer and tells the story of a rather lesser-known part of Mahatma Gandhi’s life. Historical biopics give us a new interpretation of history and a new image of the historical personality through cinematic images. Benegal’s film is no exception. Using ideas of Deleuze and Rancière, this chapter explores the relations between history, narrative, and image with special reference to The Making of the Mahatma.