Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar (film)

Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar
Directed by	Jabbar Patel
Produced by	Tirlok Malik
Written by	Daya Pawar Arun Sadhu Sooni Taraporevala
Starring	Mammootty Sonali Kulkarni Mohan Gokhale Mrinal Kulkarni
Music by	Amar Haldipur
Cinematography	Ashok Mehta
Edited by	Vijay Khochikar
Release dates	2000
Language	Hindi,dubbing English
Budget	₹ 8.95 crore

Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar is a 2000 Indian feature film in English language, directed by Jabbar Patel.^[1] It tells the story of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, known mainly for his contributions in shaping the Constitution of India, as the chairman of the Drafting Committee of the Indian Constituent Assembly.^[2] The film was a project funded jointly by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and the Government of Maharashtra. It was made at a budget of ₹ 8.95 crore.^[3] The production was managed by the government-owned National Film Development Corporation of India. The film was dubbed in nine Indian languages.^[4]

The role of Ambedkar was played by actor Mammootty:^[5] He won the National Film Award for Best Actor that year. Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar won the National Film Awards for Best feature film in English and Best Art Direction (Nitin Chandrakant Desai) in 1999.^[6] The film was screened retrospective on August 15th 2016 at the Independence Day Film Festival jointly presented by the Indian Directorate of Film Festivals and Ministry of Defense, commemorating 70th Indian Independence Day.^[7][8]

Release

Although Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar was certified in 1998, it was released commercially in 2000. It was considered for Indian National Awards for best film in 1998.

Production

Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, his film biopic on the National leader who fought also for dalits, which has been in the making for the past nine years, is now seeing the light of the day. The film which fetched Malayalam superstar Mammooty a National award in 1999, however took a while to reach the audience. After the English version received the award, Patel said "the decision was taken to go in for different dubbing versions. It was decided to dub the film in eight languages. So it needed time to write the script, go for script approval from prominent Sahitya Akademi winners,". That entailed going for dubbing teams and a series of voice trials. Mammooty is doing the Malayalam and Tamil dubbing but not the Hindi.

Besides these technical hitches, there was also the problem of distribution as the film needed the approval of both the governments of Maharashtra and India. (The National Film Development Corporation did not have the infrastructure to release the film). So the terms and conditions of both pairs of governments had to be worked out. Approval had to be sought from government departments such as finance and culture before the release happened.

Talking about how he chose the subject of Dr Ambedkar, Dr Patel said: "Dalit literature has created a lot of awareness in Maharashtra. It is extremely rich and powerful. So any sensitive Marathi knows what the Ambedkar movement is. In Maharashtra, you can't avoid the influence of Dalit literature,".

In 1989, Dr Patel was approached by the Films Division to make a documentary on Ambedkar. The director made it clear from the beginning that it was not possible to make a film like that rapidly. He told them that he would have to travel extensively, maybe even abroad, and get to know the man. He was given a carte blanche by the then Films Division head to shoot at Columbia University if he so wanted.

Describing his feelings on reaching the Columbia University campus, Dr Patel said that in those days no black person was allowed into the varsity and here was Dr Ambedkar, a man from a discriminated class, studying at the university. Near the campus was the mainly black locality of Harlem. "He must be walking through Harlem. So many dramatic things must have happened to him," he said.

Deciding then to make a feature film on Babasaheb whenever he would be able to raise the money, Dr Patel found himself attending a meeting for the centenary celebrations of Dr Ambedkar. The director happened to be sitting next to Mrinal Gore and told her about his plans. When it was Ms Gore's turn to speak, she mooted the idea of a feature film on the Dalit messiah. The then Chief Minister Sharad Pawar sanctioned Rs 10 million for the project and the Centre five crore.

Commenting on the controversy raised over the manner in which Mahatma Gandhi was portrayed in the film, Dr Patel said: "See, the film is on Dr Ambedkar. Only those portions of Mahatma Gandhi will come which are related to Dr Ambedkar. This is what Mahatma Gandhi was in his life. Whatever Mahatma's views, they are there in the film. He wanted to remove untouchability but he had his own way of doing things which Dr Ambedkar didn't have. Let time decide. Ultimately, time will tell whether what Mahatmaji was saying was right or what Ambedkar was saying was right. People are watching today what happened in the 1930s and 1940s. We should be healthy enough to debate on it, and after all, the same right of expression has been given by Dr Ambedkar in the Constitution".

How did the filmmaker settle on Mammooty? "I was making a film in English and I went all around the world, met and saw actors in Canada, United States and Britain. Physically, many actors in America came close but I was not sure about how they would portray the whole sensibility and inner turmoil. I was also not happy about the gestures. I had shortlisted 2–3 people and knew that it would be troublesome as I would have to get them here and train them. So I was not really happy. Then I decided to do something about Mammooty, who was hiding in my mind for a very long time." So started the exercise of doing computer graphics on Mammootry's face. The results showed that physically he came very close. When the director approached him initially, through a third person, the southern superstar laughed off the idea.

But once Mammooty agreed to do the role he got into it wholeheartedly. He made several physical changes like shaving off his moustache and his hair to get the receding hairline. "He gave a terrific performance. He not only had to look like Ambedkar, but had to smile and get angry like Ambedkar. One can act emotional, show anger and all that. But how do you show that you are intelligent?"

According to Dr Patel, the actor "listened to me very carefully, read the script very carefully. He also requested that we should not take too many rehearsals. So we were very particular to can the shot in one or two takes. Mammooty's journey was from inwards. He was trying to construct a role from within with a cerebral support. You will notice that he doesn't have many big speeches in the film. But he's still so expressive in silence,".

Dr Patel explained the great length of the film: "It's the life, not the film, the person which is so important. We have so many preconceived ideas of Ambedkar, as if he is responsible for many evils in this country. I'm not over-explaining. Just putting it in proper perspective. So it needs footage. I think each and every scene has a bearing on his life. I have tried to keep the relevant points. In seeing the film, you come to pay tributes to this great man. This is his life. You can't do injustice to this life,".

Awards

The film won three National Film Awards (India) in 1999.

• Best feature film in English
• Best Actor - Mammootty
• Best Art Direction - Nitin Chandrakant Desai

Box office

The film became box office success.^[9]

References

External links

• IMDb