Time magazine asked mostly-desi* actor Krishna Bhanji ten reader-submitted questions in their August 13th issue; on their website, there were several more “online extras”. I picked the eleven most mutinous inquiries for you to procrastinate with– the entire interview is on their website, where incidentally (for all my fellow Lego-lovers) this Picture of the Week should inspire smiles. Now let’s get back on topic and learn about the actor who, for better or worse, is part of every ABD’s childhood.
1. What do you look for in a role? —Catherine Raymond, BELLINGHAM, WASH.
I look for the echo inside me. Maybe we’re all born with our future coiled up inside us like a spring, and we just unravel this coiled spring and work it out. I’m sorry if this sounds a bit bizarre. I’m trying so hard not to be pretentious because I’m always called pompous and pretentious.
First Gandhi-related inquiry:
2. How would Gandhi play the role of Ben Kingsley? —Mills Chapman, VILLANOVA, PA.
He was an astonishingly quick and witty judge of character, so I bet he could have done a very good impersonation of me.
3. Would you change anything about your acting career? —Grant Curtiss, ST. PETERSBURG, FLA.
No. It’s a bit like The Butterfly Effect, that amazing science-fiction novel, where if you go back and alter one molecule of your past, the present that you’re enjoying will disintegrate.
4. Have you ever felt compelled to pursue any political issues? —Ross Davenport, PERTH, AUSTRALIA
I’m only strong as a storyteller. I’m not strong as a politician. Hopefully, with my journeys around the world, having visited the Pakistan earthquake zone, a girls’ school in Afghanistan and some refugee camps in the Palestinian areas, then I’ll be stronger as an actor at choosing the right kind of material.
What’s in a name?
5. Why did you change your name (from Krishna Bhanji)? —Andrew Lawrence, FAIRFIELD, CONN.
It was a way of getting to my first audition. My dad [who is Indian] was completely behind it. My first name, Ben, is my dad’s nickname. My second name, Kingsley, comes from my grandfather’s nickname, which was King Clove. He was a spice trader. It’s a bit late to change it back now.
This one is for Abhi (and it may be my favorite question). 😉
6. Do people ever confuse you with Patrick Stewart? —Kevin Kuder, STOW, OHIO
I was at the Royal Shakespeare Company sitting in the audience, and a girl who was maybe 11 came up to me and said, “I love you in Star Trek.” And I’m sitting there thinking I’m the king of the world, and I said, “Actually, I’m Ben Kingsley.” She looked completely blank and said, “Well, congratulations, you look like Patrick Stewart.”
Definitely desi:
7. I know we’re supposed to ask serious, boring questions, but I’ll try my luck: If you could be reborn as an ice cream flavor, what flavor would you be? —Ellizah Adam in Jakarta, Indonesia
I’d be pistachio. Definitely pistachio. I don’t know why that’s such a quick answer but honestly pistachio jumped at me. Maybe because I was asked to have an ice cream last week in a movie I’m making here in New York and I said, ‘could I have pistachio’ and the prop guy said no. My face dropped. That would be on film, my sad face.
8. What has been your favorite role so far? —Ashwin Sivanesan in Columbus, Ohio
That’s difficult because I’ve been blessed by so many remarkable roles. I’ve been really, really fortunate so far. Elegy has not been screened yet; I just finished doing that with Penélope Cruz. But my favorite is House of Sand and Fog because it stirred something inside me. I still love the character; it’s left its thumbprint on me. They don’t always do that, but he did. There was something supremely dignified about him. He was committed to his family and culture, determined to make America his home, torn between the past and the future and unable to build a present for himself and his family. I loved him. I thought he was a great archetypal dad.
Bring on the real Gandhi questions!
9. How did playing the role of Gandhi influence you? —Ashish Daga in Chennai, India
It was a great quest. I know that [director Richard] Attenborough had been attempting to do it for 20 years. I’m thrilled that it’s still present in so many people’s lives. I meet people here in New York who said ‘I saw it last week.’ They’re not delving back into memory; it’s never on the video shows. Millions of people are watching it somewhere every day. It’s thrilling, especially now. It’s very dangerous times that we live in. I was with great people making that film. It was my first major feature film, my first leading role on screen, and I was surrounded by passionate people. I was surrounded by Indians who were passionate that this story should be told correctly and beautifully. It was humbling and an enormous responsibility. I think it stretched a lot of my muscles and I hope they haven’t shrunk back yet.
His graciousness is refreshing; I can imagine how the next guy thought he was being so clever, and a bit edgy with what he came up with…
10. How many years ago did you tire of answering questions about Gandhi? —Boris Bozic in Sydney, Australia
The reason I’m asked about it is not because it’s a memory, but because people are seeing it every week. It’s like a new experience for so many kids at school. It’s quite wonderful. I don’t think I’m going to get tired of answering questions about it because the questions are so good. It’s great being an actor: You have so many opportunities to touch people.
11. What’s on your iPod these days? —Rob Liston in Hamilton, Ontario
It’s very, very mixed. There’s Bulgarian music, there’s songs from Pakistan. I switch from track to track depending on what my particular mood needs. It’s very broad. There’s music from the Middle East, from the Ottoman Empire, from India and there’s some very English stuff as well. There’s some of the stuff my sons send me that I put on there. I’ve got a good musical ear, so I can listen to most things.
I like him more after all that. You?
::
*I know his Dad was desi and his Mom was not, but he played Gandhi. That is all.
No, really, doesn’t that increase his brownosity in your opinion?
**Apropos of nothing: my parents were so strict, up until I was in high school, I only saw three movies at the theater: Snow White, Gandhi and The Little Mermaid. The only reason I got a reprieve from Disney is because my Father thought that this movie was so significant, me and my then tiny sister had to see it. We sat through it solemnly, as if we were at church.
Hopefully his vast body of (mostly good) work will make people forget “BloodRayne”.
A consistent actor. I’m going to watch House of Sand and Fog right now.
I am shamelessly worshipful of KB/BK. What an actor. Thank you for adding fuel to the fire.
Kingsley, May be a good actor but I dont think he is in anyway Indian except by 50% blood. It is never too late to change your name. I changeg mine when I was seventeen to set myself apart from my family and their religion.
Though it is hard for me (and many of us) to be objective, Gandhi remains one of the greatest movies ever made, IMO. A true epic, and Kingsley was great in it.
I lived in Bangalore when the movie was released in the 80s, and EVERYONE saw it. School groups would go during the day, whole families would go during the evenings and on weekends, including families that would never otherwise go to the movies together. And unlike most movie theater experiences in India, the crowds generally sat through the entire movie in respectful silence.
This is making me want to put in my Gandhi DVD and watch it this weekend ….
(Oh, and pistachio? Definitely desi.)
All hail Sir Ben! I love his Shakespeare. If you ever get a chance to watch the recordings of him with the RSC, thou whilst know of what I speak ; ) Hie thee to the nearest university library media center!
I think he is an incredible actor, same class like Peter O’Toole, Alec Guinness
Two of his movies (Gandhi, House of Sand and Fog) are in my top 20 list.
While he was making Gandhi, he slept on the floor, lost weight, and stopped smoking. He was smoking on the set with Gandhi makeup early in the shooting of the movie, and Richard Attenborough pointed him out a lot of people would come to see him during the shooting, and for them Gandhi had a special place, and he took that seriously.
Some of his acting during the South Africa days are amazing.
He was amazing in House of Sand and Fog. I liked his performance more than in Gandhi
He was awesomely un-Gandhian in Sexy Beast
Totally agreed. I don’t want to overhype HOSAF, but I thought he was amazing in it.
he has pretty good range. he’s half jewish and he plays a jew in schindler’s list. he’s half brown, and he plays the uber-brown in gandhi. and he’s played nasty character’s like in sexy beast.
and rajesh, grown up. brown isn’t in a name.
Definately awesome in HOSAF… saw it on the plane going to Pakistan… best use of airplane time ever.
Oh, razib, I forgot he was in Schindler’s List too.
Here is what New York Times said of him 25 years ago:
Kingsley is the man. Unlike some of the actors that have their ‘style’ (like Pacino), which they get cast for, Kingsley to me defines the ultimate actor where no style is defined. I mean, the same guy starred as Gandhi and Don Logan. His intensity as that crazy mobster absolutely blew the screen away. While small statured, he projected such an ‘Alpha Male’ psychopath, it was awesome. The utter profanity and the way those lines were delivered was pure gold. Schindler’s list, House of Sand and Fog, and the previously mentioned two films are some of my favorites.
Did anyone see him in Death and the Maiden? opinions?
Anokhi had an interview with him, and he said 2 of his kids still retain Bhanji, while the other 2 use Kingsley. He went on gushing about Ash in their upcoming film, the Last Legion. How can one not swoon?
Fantastic film. Sigourney Weaver as a rape victim against Ben Kingsley as a putative rapist. Gave me goosebumps.
It was my second Ben Kingsley film (the first one being Gandhi) and I had this queasy feeling in the back of my head about seeing a raping murdering Gandhi on screen. Nonetheless, enjoyed the film. IMHO, Polanski almost approached the brilliance of Chinatown in Death and the Maiden
Thanks, butter chicken. It’s certainly a bizarre use of Schubert’s string quartet. I’ve been hesistant to see the film because of the imagery it would then conjure up each time I heard the music.
Thanks for posting the interview. I still remember Gandhi was the first movie all the Indians in my small town paid to see in the theater. It was an experience that I’ll always remember.
If you like Schubert so much, the associated imagery will probably fade away with time. But if you like films as much as I do, this one is unmissable.
I have yet to see Death & the Maiden. Ben Kingsley is an amazingly versatile actor, and except for Suspect Zero, I liked his role in Gandhi, Sexy Beast and House of Sand & Fog. If anyone’s interested, I would recommend Pascali’s Island.
my GOD is he a baddie in Sexy Beast.
I seriously heart Sir Ben. I loved him in every movie that he’s ever been in. I loved him in Gandhi and The House of Sand and Fog (his “flagship” films). But for any Kinglsy fans out there, I urge you to check out “Silas Marner” where he played the title character. It played on PBS when I was a kid and we taped it and I think I watched it 17 times. He is hands-down fabulous. Yay Sir Ben!
Three movies Anna??? Three???? Not even E.T.? Gremlins? Goonies? Friday the 13th Part 3 3D?
Not to mention the all time classic – Breakin 2: Electric Boogaloo. If Kingsley had any range, he would be sidekick in that.
Ben Kingsley’s range as an actor is phenomenal. In Sexy Beast the menace he embodies in the character of Don Logan leaves you breathless. To play Gandhi and probably one of the most frightening psychopaths ever commited to screen in that British gangster film, as well as all his other subtle and great performances in other movies that have been mentioned makes him arguably the best actor of his generation. What do you all think? Who else would you rate better than him?
He played a pretty mean baddie way back in ’72 in the film adaptation of Alistair Maclean’s “Fear is the Key”
Who else would you rate better than him?
Robert DeNiro, Dustin Hoffman, Senn Penn, and Peter O’Toole. They all are in the same league – not better or anything
In some ways, Ben Kingsley’s Gandhi, and Peter O’Toole’s Lawrence of Arabia has similarity – playing real life characters of great impact with all (many of their) complexities and inner struggles intact.
Gandhi is more complex than Lawrence of Arabia character, even though Peter O’Toole pushed his character to the extreme limit. Also, Attenborough for many reasons wanted to simplify Gandhi’s characterization – fair enough. Also, Lawrence of Arabia is David Lean’s production. All this said, BK did a role of a lifetime in Gandhi.
Even though HOSF, Ben Kingley is more sharper than his Gandhi role – but it orders of magnitude simpler in defining the bandwidth of the character. In Gandhi movie, he had to cover 50 years of an intensely metamorphosed man – from a tongue tied brown sahib new to an alien country to standing against Government (yet quite loyal to it) in South Africa to a leader of millions ascetic, tortured leader.
Sexy Beast reminds me of quite a Robert DeNiro movies – Taxi Driver, Raging Bull.
“n some ways, Ben Kingsley’s Gandhi, and Peter O’Toole’s Lawrence of Arabia has similarity – playing real life characters of great impact with all (many of their) complexities and inner struggles intact.”
David Lean desperately wanted to make Gandhi for decades, originally with one of his favourites, Alec Guinness, in the role. He even spent months in the late 50s, early60s scouting locations in India on very long car trips (and met one of his wives, an already married Indian woman, there). Eventually, the project kept getting pushed back and it never materialized. It would have been fascinating to see what he did with it. As much as I loved watching Gandhi (and Ben Kingsley) as a child (and cried), as an adult some parts of it don’t hold up that well for me and it’s almost too worshipful (whereas T.E. Lawrence’s family objected to some of the negative qualities of Lawrence portrayed in the film). I wish David Lean had made a version as well. Or someone like Satyajit Ray. Not to detract from Richard Attenborough’s vision. It was a tremendous achievement.
Huh. Interesting. I was too young to see Gandhi in the theatre, but I watched it with my family a least once a year from age 5 on, probably. I understand it a little better each time. My ‘rental units wouldn’t let me see Disney films. Too much racism, misogyny and bad music for their taste.
I may very well be the only person on this board not to have seen ‘Gandhi’ – yet. I’ll fix that in a couple days! Interesting to hear that David Lean was going to have Alec Guinness play Gandhi – I loved ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ and Sir Alec was great, no, phenomenal – as Prince Faisal, still, having white people play characters in brownface (or blackface) bothers me.
(and met one of his wives, an already married Indian woman, there).
I think that was also Roberto Rossellini while making documentary movies on India on Nehru’s behest, and was asked to leave since he eloped with a married woman. But you might be right re: David Lean’s 4th wife Leila Matkar, and that sounds Indian.
Yes, David Lean wanted to make Gandhi too. I am sure David Lean would have done amazing job with more sharp edges.
I know many actors were considered in all those projects.
However, I think Ben Kingsley was a perfect fit. Yes, I have no problem at all in Richard Attenborough simpler version – he covered a lot of things with sense of clarity and simplicity – remember, the railway station scene to Gandhi’s first pronouncement of nonviolence in a public meeting to Champaran (identifying with the poor man) to Quit India movement to Dandi march to Calcutta riots to partition politics machinations. Anything more complex would have been too complicated like Arthur Koestler’s writings.
Dang, he really does look like Patrick Stewart in that picture (that one was my favorite question too)! Loved him in Searching for Bobby Fischer too…
I saw part of Passage to India. Wasnt that directed by Lean and had Alec in brownface? Alec’s character was ridiculous. Lean had his moment with Lawrence of Arabia. I dont care much for his directing style in Passage to india.
I wonder how Francis Ford Coppola would have handled it. He still had some of his creativity left in the late 70s. But Apoc. Now made him a mental wreck.
Or maybe John Schlesinger who is a hit and miss.
But then, Attenborough gets credit because of the logistics involved. It is a chore to make movies in India because of the political bullshit that goes on and the hypersensitivity to movies. Speaking of hypersensitivity, China is not going allow RUsh Hour 3 to be released and supposedly censored Chow Yun Phat’s role in POTC3.
I agree. He was miscast as Professor Godbole, and then his performance disappointed me too. Ben Kingsley might have pulled it off better.
David Lean had his mojo till 1970s – with Ryan’s Daughter, and then he lost it (Passage to India). His earlier movies – Great Expectations, Dr. Zhivago, Bridge on the River Kwai (even though it is more like Richard Attenborough’s softer style but it is an amazing movie) in addition to Lawrence of Arabia are masterpieces.
Yes, Richard Attenborough had put up with lot of BS to make a movie in India with license raj in full swing back then. Full marks on logisitics – to this day, Gandhi’s movie funeral scene is a movie sequence shot with the biggest crowd.
My grandfather who was a freedom fighter and had been incarcerated in Yerawada jail (Pune) for more than 7 years took me to only one movie “Gandhi”. I know that the movie shows a sugar-coated picture of Gandhi but watching it inherently brings up in you a feeling that is something grand something deep….about our leaders, people and also the struggle that my family members were so intimately a part off.
Interesting titbit:
But didn’t he offer a role to Dilip Kumar in Lawrence of Arabia, which eventually went to Omar Sharif. Then, Dilip Kumar is not a hindoo.
I don’t know, but I find changing your name from your original and ethnic given title to something different just to “get noticed” or “set yourself apart” or whatever in the movie business is kind of lame.
But he is a marvelous actor. I love him in Twelfth Night.
Guess not many people have seen him in his latest You Kill Me which is more or less a comic role. Mildly entertaining movie but the man is very very convincing and also very funny as a polish mafia dude.
“But you might be right re: David Lean’s 4th wife Leila Matkar, and that sounds Indian.”
yes. she eventually choked to death while eating at a London hotel if i remember correctly (after they were divorced. )
just to clarify, i don’t think lean’s “gandhi”, had it been made, would have been perfect or necessarily better than Attenborough’s, none of his movies are (and no biopics usually are), but it would have been interesting to see what a master like him would have done with it. i also think that a movie made in the late 50s/early 60s would have been different – politically/emotionally – from one made in the 1980s. In the end, perhaps the one made in 1980s would have been more acceptable to Indians. Who knows?
lean also fought with victor bannerjee on the sets of Passage to India, who reportedly told him to his face that had Satyajit Ray been making the movie it would be much better.
“In the end, perhaps the one made in 1980s would have been more acceptable to Indians. Who knows?”
And made it possible for someone like Ben Kingsley to get the title role.
Are they accomplished classical actors though? With a history of great Shakespearean performances on stage? I don’t think so, apart from O’Toole (plus O’Toole is not really Ben Kingsley’s generation)
And have they really performed in an equal range of roles? I can imagine DeNiro playing a character like Don Logan (even though he wouldnt do it as well — Ben Kinglsey out-menaces even DeNiro in that single role forever), but as varied as a Jewish accountant in a concentration camp, to bring to life with subtle complexity of one of the most iconic men in history in Gandhi, the immigrant in House of Sand and Fog.
His range is phenomenal, not only on film but on stage too. And also on TV, which requires a totally different presence, in roles like Silas Marner. There is no other actor like him in his generation.
On the other hand I.S Johar had a small role in Lawrence Of Arabia.
This thread is about Kingsley, but since ‘Gandhi’ is what he is best known for – thought I’d mention that a new Bollywood movie was released last week – Gandhi, my father – about his troubled relationship with his eldest son, Harilal, who, among other things, converted to Islam and also turned alcoholic. I couldn’t find it on the news tab, although it was mentioned on the thread on outsourcing the mirror, (though the link posted there didn’t work). In one of the comments on Taz’s wonderful post last year on the Centenary of Satyagraha (9/11/2006), the play Mahatma vs Gandhi, which deals with the same subject, was mentioned.
This whole story of him and Harilal is something I know very little about.
On the other hand I.S Johar had a small role in Lawrence Of Arabia.”
also, pakistan-born zia mohyeddin plays tafas, his desert guide who omar sharif shoots. and i swear i heard some indian accents in the scene at the end when the arabs are quarreling over control of damascus.
“swear i heard some indian accents”
sorry, meant subcontinental accents.
Brought back an unforgettable movie. Thanks Anna. Maybe I should watch it again.
Anna, I’m so confused– you weren’t allowed to go to the theater either? How come?
… I saw Jurassic Park II in theatres…with my dad.