The Discovery of Nehru: An Experience of India

In an inimitably personal style, Welsh-born actor, scriptwriter and filmmaker Griffith relates how, at the request of the late Indira Gandhi and her son Rajiv, he filmed the life of India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, in a one-man docudrama, playing all roles himself and also providing a narrative which conveyed the actual words of historical figures in authentic settings. As the author frankly tells us, the two years needed to complete the film--necessary because of the obscure ways and means of a redoubtable state bureaucracy--sorely tried his patience and passion for the project. Yet those many months served Griffith well, allowing for the immersion in Indian society, politics and culture that is recounted here in vivid detail, and adding depth to his portrayal of the British-educated Indian statesman and patriot as a man between cultures, dedicated to carrying out Gandhi's peaceful emancipation of their country. (Aug.)