Director : Sujan Mukherjee
Writer : Ajit Dalvi
Adaptation : Arun Mukherjee
Group : Chetana, Kolkata
Language : Bengali
Duration : 160 mint.
Date : 10 Feb 2025
Play : Mahatma vs. Gandhi
Harilal Gandhi, the eldest among the four sons of Mahatma Gandhi, is the tragic protagonist of this play. The tussle between the father and son was a poignant story of their lives. Harilal, as a young lad, was burdened with widely acclaimed morals of a strict disciplinarian father, who could lead the world, but was unable to understand his own child. The personal life of Mahatma Gandhi was overshadowed by his larger than life political career. Gandhiji, who was well aware of Harilal’s inadequacies, prevents his son from following his heart’s desire and recommended someone else’s name for a work, citing moral grounds. This episode creates a lifelong rift between father and the son. Harilal loses heart and doubts his father’s love and intention. He leaves South Africa and heads to India to educate himself and be financially independent. But he was not educated enough to find a job and his business ideas were not as brilliant as he had believed those to be. After the death of his wife, Gulab Gandhi, Harilal was shattered and start leading a beggar’s life. He changes his religion twice, as a protest against his father. Gandhiji, who was busy attending meetings and conferences, where the fate of million of Indians was to be decided, often find headlines in newspapers screaming, ‘Police arrested drunk Harilal for creating a scene on the road’. And sometimes Harilal himself from the dais of fundamentalist organization public meetings had announced – ‘I shall continue my fight till Ba (Kasturba Gandhi) and Gandhiji embraces Islam’. This play is an effort to understand yet another enigma of human relations and life.