Nine Hours to Rama

12/12/2024

In theory, this ought to have been an interesting look at just what drove Nathuram Gohdse (Horst Buchholtz) to plan and assassinate Mahatma Gandhi (J.S. Casshyap). Instead, what we get is a rather ploddingly miscast historical affair that though it does try, and try quite hard, simply doesn't really work. We are told by retrospective just why this Hindu held Gandhi responsible for the murders of many thousand Hindus by Muslims - acts for which he is determined to seek vengeance, and how he is prepared to travel the length and breadth of his country to achieve his goal. The casting of Horst Buccholz, an attractive man who is a master at illustrating fear and panic - he has a wonderful face for conveying these emotions - is bizarre, but not so odd as Robert Morley, Harry Andrews (Gen. Singh)