DVD News
25th Anniversary Edition of Gandhi comes to DVD
By Patrick Luce
Dec 4, 2006, 16:54 GMT

In order to commemorate one the greatest film epics of recent memory, Sony Picture Home Entertainment debuts the Gandhi: 25th Anniversary Collector’s Edition on DVD February 13th for the suggested retail price of $24.96.

The critically-acclaimed film – an international box office hit, nominated for 11 Academy Awards, winning eight, including Best Picture, Best Actor (Sir Ben Kingsley), and Best Director (Richard Attenborough) – will be available for the first time in a two-disc collector’s set with extensive new bonus materials.

The extras are more than 90 minutes of new material - including interviews with director Lord Richard Attenborough; actors Geraldine James, Saeed Jaffrey, and Edward Fox; Diana Hawkins (Director of Publicity), Terry Clegg (Executive in charge of production), Billy Williams (Cinematographer) and Stuart Craig (Production Designer).

The DVD also includes a Director’s commentary with Attenborough (who also filmed a personal introduction to the film). The featurettes include In Search of Gandhi, Reflections on Ben, Madeleine Slade: An Englishwoman Abroad, The Funeral, Shooting an Epic In India, Looking Back, Designing Gandhi (3 mini featurettes) and From the Director’s Chair (2 mini featurettes). 

Gandhi is a riveting story about activism, politics, religious tolerance and freedom, depicting the life and times of Mahatma Gandhi - the Indian political leader who managed to free his country from the British rule using peaceful means and thus giving hope and inspiration for generations to come.

In addition to four time Academy Award nominee Kingsley (Schindler’s List, Sexy Beast), the brilliant cast includes Edward Fox (A Passage to India), Roshan Seth (A Passage to India), Academy Award nominee Candice Bergen (Best Supporting Actress, Starting Over, 1980; TV’s “Murphy Brown,” “Boston Legal”), Academy Award winner Sir John Gielgud (Best Supporting Actor, Arthur, 1981), Academy Award nominee Trevor Howard (Best Actor, Sons and Lovers, 1960) and Martin Sheen (The Departed, TV’s “The West Wing”). 

DVD Special Features Include:
In Search of Gandhi Featurette - Lord Attenborough discusses the various hurdles he faced in getting the film made, from the genesis of the project in the '60s through to the start of production.
Reflections on Ben Featurette - Cast and crew reflect on Ben Kinsley as he prepared for the role and memories of him during production.
Madeleine Slade: An Englishwoman Abroad Featurette - Lord Richard Attenborough and Geraldine James discuss Madeleine Slade (Meerabahen), who became one of Gandhi's most committed followers
The Funeral Featurette - Cast and crew discuss the recreation and filming of Gandhi's Funeral. This scene holds the record for containing more extras than any other in film history (in excess of 250,000 people).
Shooting an Epic in India Featurette  - Cast and crew discuss working in India and the challenges they faced as the production progressed.
Looking Back Featurette - Cast and crew look back at the film. This featurette includes material about the success of the film, the impact it had on release and the Academy Award ceremony.
Designing Gandhi - 3 mini featurettes where Stuart Craig talks about three different elements of Set & Design: Building the Ashram, The Tent, Finding Trains
From the Director's Chair - 2 mini featurettes where Lord Attenborough shares his views on two areas of the production: On Casting, On Music
Ben Kingsley Talks About Gandhi - Featurette
Four Vintage Newsreel Shorts
The Making of Gandhi – A photo montage of behind-the-scenes stills
Digitally Remastered Audio and Video
Online Content Syndication

Gandhi: 25th Anniversary Collector’s Edition is now available for pre-order at Amazon. As of yet, there is not a release date for the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.