Man of the Century Series
Sabarmati Ashram

Concept
The 20th century saw unprecedented war and destruction in the name of freedom, liberty and independence. It also saw the tireless and indefatigable pursuit of peace amongst nations by some truly remarkable men and women, visionaries who left an indelible stamp on the future of the world. Sabarmati Ashram is a tribute to one, and perhaps acknowledged as the greatest amongst those visionaries for peace who found an alternative route to freedom. Mahatma Gandhi, the father of Modern India and a World Peace leader.
Sabarmati Ashram was unique in concept for it broke away from traditional notions of carving out space for living for individuals and changed the relationships between them in remarkable ways. It provided a real model for living that was simple, egalitarian and far ahead of its times. It was the symbol of Gandhian philosophy.

Treatment
Both audio and video capture different aspects of Gandhi’s entire body of work for peace. The music resonates of the familiar faith in one god, several names. To lyrics that beseech the gods of different religions in India, wondering why human beings do not have hearts as large as their faith does, the camera travels through Sabarmati Ashram. This is the place where Gandhi lived and practiced the simple life he believed would make all Indians self-sufficient.

The camera walks through the place that during Gandhi’s life and even after his untimely death represented the achievable reality of his beliefs and ideas. The film captures the essence of his work for the true emancipation of humankind.

Film Credits
Music By: A.R. Rahman
(song in the background is “Ishwar Allah” from Deepa Mehta’s “1947 – Earth”. Music released on T-Series)