3 minutes of readingJanuary 30, 2026 06:47 pm IST
Gandhi Talks Movie Review: I came into this movie for a couple of reasons. One to see how inventive this silent film was and the other because I can happily watch Vijay Sethupathi reading a directory.
This is how it develops. Sethupathi plays a poor man who lives with Usha Nadkarni’s ever-coughing mother in a chawl. He is in love with Aditi Rao Hydari’s Beautiful Damsel, who lives in Ghar Ke Saamne. Arvind Swamy is a rich man who lives in a mansion.
These are actors playing types, not developed characters: both men are victims of systemic corruption: one loses his dream building to greedy politicians and the other is deprived of paid work because he can’t pay a bribe. A thief (Sidhharth Jadhav) dressed in violently colored suits floats by. A vote-buying neta (Mahesh Manjrekar) knocks on doors using notes engraved with Gandhi’s photo.
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When the characters remember to use body language to show their feelings, the film makes you smile – there are some nice opening moments between Sethupathi and Hydari, helped by a melodious song by AR Rahman. The rest of the film is filled with Rahman’s riffs, well used in a dance number with the two men on the floor, often flashier than the film itself.
Those who know, know that “silent” films are never without sound; Even the oldest ones had interstices and music as an inlay. It’s about not using dialogue as a crutch, something that silent films of yesteryear knew well: actors used their bodies and their surroundings to convey their feelings.
Although there have been several films in the genre, there is a reason why Kamal Haasan’s 1987 Pushpak is considered a classic. The actor offers a masterclass in burlesque expressionism that maintains his extravagant rhythms throughout, leading the narrative while also relying on the pleasures of physical performance.
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Gandhi Talks, in that sense, is a sham. With glimpses of Lage Raho Munnabhai (Gandhi as moral guardian of the nation) and 3 Idiots (permanently bedridden parents) without its bite, it is actually a talkie at heart, using text messages and written index cards as convenient devices. You don’t miss hearing the dialogue because you’ve read the words.
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The best parts are in the first half; After the interval, everything is a confused depression, weighed down by an excessively long passage with the rich man, the poor man and the smiling thief hanging around without any discernible purpose. Not even Sethupathi can save him.
Gandhi Talks movie cast: Vijay Sethupathi, Arvind Swamy, Aditi Rao Hydari, Siddharth Jadhav, Usha Nadkarni, Mahesh Manjrekar
Director of the film Gandhi Talks: Kishore Pandurang Belekar
Gandhi Talks Movie Rating: two stars