'The Mahatma on Celluloid' unravels rare facts about films on Gandhi

New Delhi: A new book unravels many unknown facts about the newsreels, documentaries and films made on Mahatma Gandhi, including AK Chettiar's "Mahatma Gandhi: Twentieth-Century Prophet" and Richard Attenborough's "Gandhi".

"The Mahatma on Celluloid: A cinematic biography" by civil servant Prakash Magdum is written after "Extensively researching the archives and databases of foreign and Indian film companies".

"I am excited to share this unusual story of an extraordinary man who didn’t like cinema but the film industry loved him very much. Mahatma Gandhi is one of the most filmed men in modern history and I have tried to chronicle the cinema’s tryst with the Mahatma over the years... I am sure that readers who have an interest in films, in general, and Gandhi, in particular, would enjoy this tale," Magdum, former director of the National Film Archive of India (NFAI), said in a statement.

The book published by HarperCollins India contains archival images and posters of some important and rare films, and excerpts and anecdotes from interviews with filmmakers like Rajkumar Hirani, Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Naseeruddin Shah, Jahnu Barua, Feroz Abbas Khan and Girish Kasarvalli.

"The Mahatma on Celluloid" will hit the stands on December 15.