The Light and the Dark: “Nine Hours to Rama”
0.
Introduction
There has
been a constant fight between the good and the evil, the positive energy and
the negative energy since the time immemorial. The figure of Mohandas
Karamchand Gandhi is one of the important characters in this fight from our
recent past. Mohandas Gandhi, often referred to as Mahatma Gandhi, is
known as one of the most important figure of Indian freedom movement, often
referred to as Hind Swaraj by Gandhi himself. Gandhi was a worshiper of
the Truth and Non-violence, and all his actions were governed by these two
foundations of his life. As it is well-known, he was killed by a Hindu fanatic
Nathuram Godse, who was also claimed to be a religious man and said that he
killed Gandhi because Gandhi was a threat to Hindu religion and culture as
against Muslim rights and advantages.1
There are many films available on
the life of Gandhi, his ideology, freedom movement of India and Gandhi’s role,
etc. The movie ‘Nine Hours to Rama’2 centers around the
character of Nathuram Godse, the character of Gandhi also plays an equally
important role. The film was directed by Mark Robson and concentrates on the
personal life of Nathuram Godse and tries to identify the causes of why he
killed Gandhi. The film was made by a studio from Hollywood, and the majority
of the actors are British or American, except a few Indian. The entire movie is
shot in India, basically in New Delhi. Present paper investigates the
representation of two most significant extremes of Indian social history. At
the same time, the paper also investigates the conditions of Indian society
which has just got independence.
The first section introduces the
storyline of the movie. Second section discusses the title from its various
significances. Third section discusses the dichotomy of light and dark, the two
major characters of the film. Fourth section tries to contextualize the movie
and investigates into the politics of representation. Fifth section provides
the conclusions to the discussion.
1.
Story-line
The movie
begins with information that there is a plan of attack on Mahatma
Gandhi. Police officer Gopal Das was aware about the plan and he was searching
for the actual culprit and save the life of Mohandas Gandhi. They caught a boy
of SNS, Chako, who informs that the people who are to kill Gandhi are already
in the city, but he does not know the actual time and people. The time depends
on whatever the astrologer says. According to astrologers the best time to kill
an ‘evil man’ is the evening of the same day. Through this, police comes to
know that Gandhi bapu will be attacked in the prayer meeting of the
evening. Officer Das and others try to convince Gandhi that he should ‘call
off’ the prayer meet, which Gandhi denies. The second possible option could be
police officer would walk with him to protect him. But, Gandhi says that an
officer walking with him would not be a problem if he were not to keep the gun
with him, because he does not want to save his life in a way which is contrary
to his own principles.
On the other side, Nathuram and Apte
are in the guest house of Railway station of Delhi
In the end, he manages to kill
Gandhi on the stipulated time; he shot him at the prayer meet, where the movie
ends.
2.
Title
Title of
the movie ‘Nine Hours to Rama’ is very significant here. Both Mohandas
Gandhi and Nathuram Godse, being Hindu, were followers of Rama. But,
their approach and understanding of Hindu religion as well as of Lord Rama were
fundamentally different. The movie constantly shows the significance of time.
Though the movie begins before the nine hours of the central event, there are
past narratives in the form of flashback.
The most important aspect is the
fanaticism has to do with the time. It is basically a spontaneous response to
the things happening around. The things which are so close that they cannot be
deciphered clearly. And consequently, any decision taken on the basis of those
events can be faulty. Godse and SNS decided something of that type, to murder
Gandhi. The clock has been screened plenty of times in the movie to develop the
significance of time, here the clock is iconically4 used to mention
the time. Here, there is one to one relation between the signifier, clock, and
the signified, time. The clock also signifies the mechanical behavior of Godse
who runs on the nick of time. Godse’s act was driven by some other agency; he
was just a puppet in their hands. Thus, his act was like a machine, machine is
prepared to do some activity which it performs; it doesn’t have its own will or
brain. Godse without even applying his brain did the assigned duty without a
single question. Here, Godse is symbolized as machine5. Basically,
his hatred for the Gandhi has been used and navigated into this negative
direction of killing the personification of non-violence.
Another important factor is the time
about which the film talks about. The film begins at the morning of 30th
January, 1948 and Friday, which is just around six months to the independence
of India. But, Godse and SNS’s approach has redefined the very concept of freedom;
they were against the very idea of freedom of religion, freedom of expressions
and the human values like truth and non-violence. The narration of the movie
also indicates towards this approaching danger. Movie begins in the time of
morning, the light, and approaches towards the night, the dark. It is not only
a darkness of night but also the darkness of the direction-less future, the
darkness of thought-less violence. Apart from this, these nine hours are also
significant in order to understand the pseudo-Hinduism and pseudo-nationalism
of Godse. In these nine hours, Godse did all those things which are considered
not only illegal but also non-religious.
3. The
dark knight
Nathuram
Godse is in a way a Hero for the job that he has done, he still has high
regards from the fanatics of our country. The film represents him as a central
character of the narration, his questions against Gandhi, and his mentality
about the Hindu rights and state are raised but not resolved completely. The
film-makers have left the issues on the audience to think and resolve on their
own. As mentioned earlier, both Gandhi and Godse were the followers of Lord
Rama, but both of them have a different understanding of His teachings. We will
try to understand these two characters with a comparison to each other.
Godse, in his very first appearance
in the movie, was shown to depend on his gun. He woke up and first thing he
checked for was his gun. He held the gun tightly and reconfirmed his strength,
the gun – the violence. This introduction scene itself depicts Godse as someone
who has a complete confidence on the violence, and someone who is not ready to
apply his brain before he actually acts something really brutal. This gun is a
signifier of his belief and confidence in violence. When Gandhi was screened, he
was requested to call off meeting which he denied. Then Officer Das asked him
to accompany in the prayer meet. Gandhi said he did not mind anybody walking
with him, but only if that person were not to carry his/her weapon. Gandhi
elaborated saying that he lived his life keeping non-violence as his main
creed, and he did not want to save his life with a help of a gun. A man walking
with a gun besides him means a gun walking with him. The incident signifies his
confidence in the concept of non-violence. Gandhi said in the meeting with
officer, ‘Violence is the law of the brute, and non-violence is the law of our
species.’ He believed that love will conquer the hate.
Godse seems to be always angry for
every small and big matter. On the other hand, Gandhi is always calm and
composed, even when he listened to the possible attack news on his life; he was
neither angry nor disturbed. The fact is anger conquers the man when the man is
powerless and disturbed. Godse was not only disturbed but also full of anger against
the humanitarian thinking of Gandhi and his followers. His disturbance and
anger had been channelized in the process of this assassination by the SNS
leaders.
Godse - the active member of SNS - wanted to serve the British Army. But
his father denied that, and asked him to marry a child bride. One can easily
notice his zeal for the army when he went to regiment office to join, he was
fresh and happy. This savior of the nation and religion doesn’t mind taking
liquor or sleeping with other women. He met Shri Prahalad, the founder of SNS,
in a marriage of a friend, where he decided to join the Society. At that time
Shri Prahalad reminded him that joining society meant complete surrender and
sacrifice, and no marriage. Godse readily accepted the principles in front of
Shri Prahalad, but when he came out of the room he started gazing at the female
dancer. Another SNS leader reminded him that he said no to marriage not to
women, and in the very next scene he was intimately talking to Rani
Mehata.
Godse had very conventional views about the role of women which is screened
quite a few times in the movie. First time his views were expressed in his
first meeting with Rani. He was against any modern views about women, and
believed that a woman must stay in her house. But, at the same time he,
himself, was ready to flirt with her and use her physically. In order to save
himself from police, he entered into a theatre where he met a prostitute. He
did not mind sleeping with a prostitute. But when he came to know that the
prostitute is a widow he became angry, and started beating her. He did not like
the idea that a Hindu widow wears make up and jewelry which is an anti-Hindu
idea. He did not realize that he attracted towards her because of her make-up
and jewelry, it was a requirement for her survival. Thus, Godse’s views about
female were conventional and impractical. But, at the same time he liked to
exploit them physically.
The last scene where Godse killed Gandhi is very significant. Godse moved
forward in the crowd to meet Gandhi in the prayer meet. When he actually faced
Gandhi he shouted at him and said, “You are late Baapu.” Gandhi
apologized for being late, and immediately Godse shot three bullets at Gandhi.
But, before dying Gandhi said, “I forgive you my brother” and at last he said “Hey
Ram”. The first statement of Gandhi directly puts him besides Jesus Christ,
as Christ was praying for the people who crucified him. Earlier in the movie,
Gandhi said that somebody wanted to kill him because of his own sins. Gandhi
said that if two people, Nathuram Godse and Officer Das, are walking with the
Gun in their hands means that his message of non-violence has some defect.
In screening these two characters, the film makers have taken care of their
public image. Though Nathuram Godse is the central character of the film, he is
presented as an evil person, driven by impulses and fanatic ideas. On the other
hand, Gandhi was shown very few times, but he is always calm. Godse doesn’t
have anything to do, except to wait for the right time to kill, and
consequently he just kills time in one or the other place of Delhi. Gandhi is
constantly working on one or the other thing, even when he was aware that he
will be attacked in the evening, he doesn’t change his work schedule. Thus,
Gandhi proves himself as a true karmayogi, a saint who believes in his
good deeds.
4. The
representation
As the
movie was made by the British and American film makers and majority of foreign
actors were involved, we can easily see that the white actors do not fit into
the Indian characters easily. As an audience, we are unable to accept them as
Indian characters, though surrounding is hardcore India of Delhi. Second
important feature is the unnecessary idealization of the characters as I have
just mentioned above.
The director is successful in
presenting the six month old independent India
The filmmakers show the issue of
superstition through the decision of the SNS, represented as an extremist
society, members. In order to find out what was the time to kill Gandhi, Chako
refers to the astrologers. Practical minded Officer Das asked twenty-two astrologers
for the auspicious time to kill a man. Initially they asked for the auspicious
time to kill a noble man, which was replied in negation saying that there is no
auspicious time to kill a noble man. Then they inquired about the auspicious
time to kill an evil person, and the answer was it was on the same day before
sunset. Out of twenty-two, nineteen astrologers confirmed this time, which made
them confident in the view that the attack would take place on the same day
during prayer meet. This incident shows two important aspects, first SNS
believed in superstitions, so if they get the power they will behave keeping
these astrologers in front. Second important implication of this event is that
in the view of these fanatics Gandhi was an evil person, which must be
eradicated. Considering a person like Gandhi an evil person, literally means
that anyone who is against the hardcore Hindu ideology is an evil. Thus, film
makers have presented the ideology of Hindu fanatics, through this small
incident.
The idealization or the idol
worshipping in our society is another important issue the film makers have
pointed in the movie. This idealization process is also referred to as Myth
making in Barthian Semiology6. We, Indians, are always looking
forward to a hero, a savior - a person who solves our problems. Gandhi is that
savior in the movie, everybody follows him, everyone sees him as leader and
they are ready to listen to his commands. It is not bad to respect someone, but
not identifying one’s own responsibility is certainly a problem. The citizens
of India like to follow the leaders like Gandhi, and they do not want to take
up their own responsibility considering self an equally important citizen of
the country. When Gandhi was shot, there were thousands of people available there, but
nobody took the courage of grabbing the killer. Instead all of them sat, as if
they have lost all the hopes, people started crying. Some women started
breaking their bangles, a ritual performed by the woman on the death of the
husband. Thus, for them Gandhi’s death was a death of the savior. They
constantly required someone to guide them; they were unable to perform anything
on their own. The citizens are not ready to take up responsibility is
unfortunate for a country which has just received the independence. They are
now dependent on these socio-political leaders.
The movie also represents
the Delhi and its citizens. It is shown plenty of times that people do not have
traffic sense. They walk on the road instead of footpath; they walk in front of
the car. Most of the people are poor. And the most important thing is,
everybody walks in a mass; there is no separate identity of the individuals. Lack
of responsibility and not having an identity are two sides of a coin. People
are not yet mature to identify themselves as responsible Indian citizens. It
was very easy for Nathuram and Apte to hide in these masses. And in fact, the
event itself is a mass reaction. The mass doesn’t have the identity or the
logic. And in order to drive this mass, in positive or negative direction, one
requires a leader, an idol, hence idealization is required. These issues are
not yet resolved, people still look forward to the leaders, who command them,
and people still don’t observe their constitutional responsibilities and
rights. And people still behave in mass without developing their own identity
for the nation. In such a situation, systematic brain-washing can lead to any
fanatic event.
5.
Conclusion
The film
questions many historical issues of free India
Evaluating the film from present day
scenario, we can easily notice that the conditions after sixty years of
independence are not very different from the conditions presented which were
just after six months of independence. People are still a huge group of
brainless animals, vulnerable to any negative direction. They don’t have
traffic sense even today. And even today, they look forward to a great, idol
leader to follow. The name of Rama is still controversial and bears
multiple interpretations, and majority of people are experiencing the conflict
throughout their life which Godse felt for those nine hours before killing
Gandhi.
End notes:
1. David
Hardiman (2003). Gandhi in His Time and Ours: The Global Legacy of His
Ideas. Columbia
2. “Nine Hours
to Rama” - Directed & Produced by Mark Robson, Story by Stanley UK
and USA
3. SNS is
defined as a secret society against Gandhi and secular politics; they wanted to
restore the Hindu rights. Basically, this is another name given to RSS to avoid
any controversy. At the same time, RSS has already denied any relation with
Nathuram Godse. Cf. The Hindu (18 August 2004). "RSS releases
'proof' of its innocence". Retrieved 26 June 2007 OR Zee
News (IANS) (30 December 2010). "RSS denies Godse
was its member,
rebuts Cong claim". Retrieved 1 November 2011
4. “In the semiotics of the American
philosopher C S. Peirce, an icon is a sign which resembles the object it
signifies.” (Martin, Bronwen & Felizitas Ringham (2000) Dictionary of
Semiotics. London & NY: Casell, Pg. 73)
5. “In Peirce's semiotics, the term
symbol denotes a sign (signifier) whose relationship to its object (signified)
is entirely arbitrary or based on convention.” (Martin, Bronwen & Felizitas
Ringham (2000) Dictionary of Semiotics. London & NY: Casell, Pg.
128)
6. cf. Barthes, Roland. 1993. Mythologies Tr. by Annette Lavers. London: Vintage. In this book
Barthes refers to the idealization of French cultural artifacts.
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