Kingsley learned that his own family had even come from the same village as the Indian leader. When he began to research the life of Gandhi, Mr. Kingsley calls ''a thoroughly English upbringing'' in Manchester, he was born Krishna Bhanji (he changed his name as a young man beginning his theatrical career) and bears a striking physical resemblance to Gandhi. Kingsley's father lived until going to England at the age of 14.ĭespite what Mr. Kingsley's family has not lived in India for three generations: his paternal grandfather, a spice trader, left India to settle in Zanzibar, where Mr. Kingsley is half Indian: his mother was an English model and his father, a physician, was Indian. Kingsley, his choice seemed eerily appropriate. Attenborough's search for the perfect Gandhi was long and frustrating, but when he finally found Mr. Kingsley who provides the magnetic center.
Provides the Magnetic Centerīut it is Mr. The cast also includes Sir John Gielgud, Candice Bergen, Martin Sheen, Athol Fugard, Trevor Howard, John Mills and the Indian stage actress Rohini Hattangadhi as Gandhi's wife, among scores of others. An immense 3-hour 20-minute epic biography, the film traces the life of Gandhi from his arrival in South Africa as a young lawyer in 1893, through his crucial role in the birth of modern India, to his assassination in 1948 at the age of 79. That should change with ''Gandhi,'' which opened last week at the Ziegfeld Theater in New York. Kingsley has been acclaimed in Britain for roles ranging from Hamlet to the title part in Brecht's ''Baal,'' the 38-year-old actor is little known in the United States. ''There was no question he was the one.''Īlthough Mr. Attenborough, who produced and directed the film. ''And from the moment Ben came on the screen, he was absolutely mesmeric,'' reported Mr. Kingsley be interested and available for a screen test? Attenborough had also been searching for the right actor to play Gandhi, with little success.
Kingsley received a call from Sir Richard Attenborough, the actor and director, who had been trying for almost 20 years to start a movie about Gandhi. Six days later, deeply immersed in the life of the Indian leader Mohandas K. One of the books was a biography of Gandhi.''
''So my wife started putting books in front of me in order to relax me and ease my blasted mind. ''It was killingly hard work and burned up a lot of an actor's brain cells,'' Mr. Squeers in the original London production of ''Nicholas Nickleby.'' TWO years ago, Ben Kingsley, an actor with the Royal Shakespeare Company, was playing Mr.