His triumph changed the world forever. Sir Richard Attenborough's sweeping biography of Mohandas Gandhi, who rose from simple lawyer to worldwide symbol of peace and understanding. Gandhi earned eight Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor.

Ben Kingsley stars as Mahatma Gandhi, who rose from small-time lawyer to India's spiritual leader by using his philosophy of non-violent but direct-action protest that helped end British rule in India.

Biography of Mahatma Gandhi, the lawyer who became the famed leader of the Indian revolts against the British through his philosophy of non-violent protest.

Eight Academy Awards including Best Picture went to Gandhi (1982), the true story of the man who freed India from colonial rule through non-violent protest.

Opened: 01/04/2002

It was Richard Attenborough's lifelong dream to bring the life story of Indian political and spiritual leader Mahatma Gandhi to the screen. When it finally reached fruition in 1982, the 188-minute, Oscar-winning Gandhi was one of the most exhaustively thorough biopics ever made. The film begins in the early part of the 20th century, when Mohandas K. Gandhi (Ben Kingsley), a British-trained lawyer, forsakes all worldly possessions to take up the cause of Indian independence. Faced with armed resistance from the British government, Gandhi adopts a policy of passive resistance, endeavoring to win freedom for his people without resorting to bloodshed. In the horrendous slaughter sequence, more extras appear on screen than in any previous historical epic. The supporting cast includes Candice Bergen as photographer Margaret Bourke-White, Athol Fugard as General Smuts, John Gielgud as Lord Irwin, John Mills as the viceroy, Martin Sheen as Walker, Trevor Howard as Judge Broomfield, and, in a tiny part as a street bul