From Gandhi to Shah Jahan

The Ben-Aishwarya combination set to reincarnate the age romance

Oscar award winning British actor Ben Kingsley made his mark in global cinema with his performance as Mohandas Gandhi in the film Gandhi in 1982. Now nearly three decades later the gifted actor is back with another powerhouse performance, this time as the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. He will be romancing Aishwarya Rai in the role of Mumtaz Mahal.

Kingsley visited India to take part in the Goa International Film Festival last year. The following are excerpts from an interview with Ben Kingsley.

Q: After Ghandhi you have made several films from Schindler’s List to Sexy Beast. What kind of diversity do you see in your roles?

A: I felt that there might be a common thread that connects all the roles. Maybe they are all different sides of me. May be they are all different sides of mankind. Maybe all mankind is in each and every one of us. I played a very violent role in a film called Sexy Beast. It was the complete opposite of Mahathma. Many journalists in the West, in fact one journalist referred to me as bipolar because I was able to portray Mahathma and the violent gangster, Don Lovan,

I do believe we all have a Don Lovan and a Mahathma in all of us. I think it’s the actor’s choice and the actor’s power to show his audience that humanity is in every individual, and that we are all connected.

Q: What about your latest production, Taj Mahal?

A: Well I suppose its either very foolish or either very brave of me to attempt to portray Shah Jahan as a historical giant of this culture. I can show me as a human being, with vulnerabilities as well as strengths as a man amongst us that somebody removed from us, then possibly I maybe able to add to the many explanations and stories on how the Taj got there in the first place.

It’s a remarkable building. It’s a scream of pain frozen in marble and I want to examine how great that pain was and how in extreme moments we can produce remarkable things that will last forever.

It is a monument dedicated to love and hundreds of years later it’s still there and it’s still visited as a pilgrimage by lovers all over the world.

I want to offer to the modern world this Indian masterpiece that has become a touchstone of love universally. My reasons for the act are feelings of empathy and affection. I wish to show his vulnerable nature as well as his strengths.

Q: Tell about the Satyajit Ray Foundation,

A: There is a Satyajith Ray Foundation in London. It’s run by a friend of Richard Attenborough. Even before I was offered the role of Gandhi, I had the good fortune to see some of Ray’s films when I was in my teens.

As Guru Tugginmypudha in The Love Guru	As David Kepesh in Elegy	As Nizam in Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

I find that his epic understanding of the human struggle is equal to Shakespeares and Tolstoys. It’s absolutely genius in narrative style, in story telling and elevating what could seem to be a small insignificant struggle of one human being into something as brilliant as King Lear or Hamlet from Shakespeare or as good as War and Peace from Tolstoy. He takes a small portion and fills the screen with it.

Q: What effect did playing Ghandhi have on you?

A: When I finished filming, I thought that the elastic that I had stretched to be Ghandhi, it would snap back to its usual shape. Today I was with the Governor of Goa in his beautiful residence and there was an extraordinary portrait on the wall of Nehru and Gandhi. I stood under the portrait of Gandhi and I did something that you’re not allowed to do to all paintings. I stroked his cheeks because what’s left in me of Gandhi is love. I absolutely love him and he is like a piece of music. He is a silhouette that can move me to tears just by looking at him.

Q: When you do a role like you did in Gandhi you risk the chance of being alienated by other film-makers. Since you have done so much justice to the role do you think you’ll only be thought of as Gandhi?

A: Well I was very fortunate that the two films I did after Gandhi was written by a great British writer called Harold Inter.

I acted in both these films and since these two films were completely modern, they took place in London and the suburbs of England.

It helped a great deal to show to other producers that it might be possible for me to do other things. This led to a very rich and varied career.

I agree. Some producers have no imagination whatsoever and they can only see me playing one role and it is very unfortunate that some actors are forced to play basically the same role over and over again. The blessing is that Gandhi is not a type you can replicate or reproduce.

There is no such thing as a role like Gandhi because there isn’t one and that also helped me to swim through troubled waters in my career.

Q: Which roles have been closest to your heart?

A: In House of Sand and Fog I played an Iranian Air Force Colonel who came to America and tried to build a life for his family in a house that he thought he owned. There was something about his role, his struggle and his sense of honour that was very close to me.

Q: Any favourite director in India?

A: We are all great admirers of Nihru Nya. I think she is absolutely remarkable. I love her work. The budget of Taj will be around 26 to 27 million. The script arrived four days ago. My wife is going to be in the film. She will play Shah Jahan’s first wife and we are hoping that Aishwarya Rai approves the script and take on the role of Mumtaz.

(Based on an interview at the Goa film festival held last year). Sent by Sanath Gunatileke

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