There are flicks that enlighten you. Gandhi, My Father is one of them that tries, and nearly succeeds.

Like the promos go, it's about the price one family had to pay for the nation's freedom. The Mahatma's eldest son, Harilal, is a product of the Gandhi's ideology -- albeit negative, and the movie is a daring effort by the makers to add depth into Harilal's character on film. It revisits the reasons behind Gandhi being so popular, yet being a total failure as a father to his eldest son.

The plot is somewhat familiar -- we are ferried across the South African timeline of Gandhi (Darshan Jariwala) and wife Kasturbha (Shefali Shah). A middle-aged Gandhi shows the first signs of dedication to his cause, as he considers every child in the community his own. The other side of the coin, of course, is the fact that Harilal (Akshay Khanna) wishes to be treated like a son. His ambition -- to become a barrister like the father, but Gandhi is opposed to the idea of a Western education, insisting that Harilal builds firm roots in his andolan against racism.

Gandhi also separates Harilal from his wife Gulab (Bhumika Chawla), hence inflicting a wound so deep that the son couldn't recover.

Post-interval, the movie extends the hatred between the father an the son, and it does this very slowly, trying to build emotion on the way. Darshan Jariwala is a class act, lending the respect buried in books to the fragile frame of the Mahatma. Shefali is a treat to watch -- entirely natural -- she makes this role her own, and it's almost unimaginable who else could have portrayed Kasturbha with that kind of intensity. Bhumika Chawla does her bit well, an honest presentation although she doesn't enjoy a lot of screen presence.

But the sincere effort for me, by far, is Akshaye Khanna. His Harilal strives for his own presence in the might of Gandhi's, and although the title suggests that he is the protagonist, one finds it hard to take their eyes away from the character of Gandhi that keeps dropping by with eternal words of wisdom. Akshaye Khanna's ex-pressions in this movie are awesome -- watch out for the scene at the railway station where he brings his mother a gift, blinded by his interpretation of what is right and wrong. In fact, the entire flick is studded with a few scenes of brilliance where the two contrasting lead roles come together for a silent showdown.

Unfortunately it's also smudged with flaws.

The editing is, er, inexplicable -- there are scenes floated in that just don't make sense, adding neither depth nor intensity to the story. The background music tries to be soulful, but is quite familiar throughout, and criminally goes missing in a few shots where emotions run high. Although it is indeed an honest effort by the makers, for me -- they didn't evoke much sympathy for the son, and when I look back, it was more of a documentary, a celluloid documentation of a story you won't find in your history books from school. I applaud the makers for exploiting the power of cinema and giving me a subtle perspective of whom we know as the 'Father of our nation'. Unfortunately, like Hey Ram, it tries too hard to build dislike for the Mahatma instead of building love for the protagonist.

But it does have a stinging message that many of us need to realize. The nation has often called for the people to come forward and serve. It beckons us, every now and then, and many of us run away in spite of nurturing a real desire to improve our country. Gandhi, My Father makes a point -- the kin must take a backseat if one really intends on dedicating himself for the country's development.

And in the process, families might be demolished.

*****