MAY 16: One of the lesser known aspects of Mahatma Gandhi's personality will be the focus of a play, Gandhi Virodh Gandhi, scheduled for its premier later this month. The melodramatic flyer screams, `Could the father of the nation be the father to his own son.' But the new Hindi play has history behind it.

Gandhiji shared a very tumultuous relationship with his eldest son, Harilal. So much so, that when Harilal died just six months after his father, in Sion hospital, Mumbai, his family had to be called to pick up the body. And even then only a cousin turned up hoping that the hospital staff does not wake up to the true identity of the dead man. This is also the opening scene of the two act play, which progresses in a flashback.

Whatever attention Harilal got from the public painted him black. One of Gandhiji's granddaughters acknowledged in her memoirs that, ``Bapu had been less than fair to Hari kaka''. The conflict started from arguments about Hari's career who wanted to go abroad for studies just like his father had.

But Gandhiji, then living by a new philosophy, thought formal education pointless and wanted Hari to stay in the ashram. The theory is that Gandhiji wanted his son to live by his philosophy while Hari wanted to make his own mistakes. A drama which probably plays itself out in every home.

Hari eventually went to South Africa and was jailed there. And the fasts unto death, for which Gandhiji is so revered, was first undertaken by Hari in an African jail to demand just treatment. But the relationship with father deteriorated as Hari felt he was treated like any of Gandhiji's followers and not like a son. He also converted to Islam though he eventually became a Hindu again. But he was never able to lead a steady life.

The play, whose Marathi version swept away all the awards of 1995, is being produced in Hindi by Manhar Gadhia. The play stars Seema Biswas, of the Bandit Queen fame, as Kasturba Gandhi. Says Chandrakant Kulkarni, director, ``Seema is a method actress, which is what I wanted and not a glamour image''. Though her role is not as big as the father's and son's, played by Atul Kulkarni and Kishore Kadam respectively, the director insists it makes up in depth what it lacks in length.

``We put in a year's research into the play. All the events which take place actually happened but of course the conversations have been written by the author,'' says Kulkarni. The play has been translated from a Gujarati book, Prakash No Padchhayo, by Dinkar Joshi. Gadhia plans to take the play all over the country and, unlike the Marathi version, expects it to be a commercial success. Meanwhile, Feroz Khan has shown interest in doing the play in English.

Gandhji Virodh Gandhi, at Nehru Centre, May 25, 1997. Time: 7.30 pm.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.