''The Frontier Gandhi: Badshah Khan, a Torch for Peace'', a documentary released in 2008, is the first full film account of

Pashtun Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically r ...

leader and

nonviolent Nonviolence is the personal practice of not causing harm to others under any condition. It may come from the belief that hurting people, animals and/or the environment is unnecessary to achieve an outcome and it may refer to a general philosoph ...

activist

Abdul Ghaffar Khan Abdul Ghaffār Khān (; 6 February 1890 – 20 January 1988), also known as Bacha Khan () or Badshah Khan (), and honourably addressed as Fakhr-e-Afghan (), was a Pakistani Pashtun, independence activist, and founder of the Khudai Khidmatgar ...

, also known as Badshah Khan or Bacha Khan. The documentary is the work of filmmaker and writer T.C. McLuhan, daughter of the Canadian media theorist

Marshall McLuhan Herbert Marshall McLuhan (July 21, 1911 – December 31, 1980) was a Canadian philosopher whose work is among the cornerstones of the study of media theory. He studied at the University of Manitoba and the University of Cambridge. He began his ...

, who spent 21 years to bring the story to the screen after an acquaintance gave her ''

Nonviolent Soldier of Islam ''Nonviolent Soldier of Islam'' is a biography of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (1890-1988), an ally of Gandhi's in the Indian independence movement. Originally written by Eknath Easwaran in English, foreign editions have also been published in Arabic ...

''. The voice of Ghaffar Khan is played by Indian actor

Om Puri Om Prakash Puri (18 October 1950 – 6 January 2017) was an Indian actor who appeared in mainstream commercial Hindi films as well as Bengali, Kannada,English,Punjabi and one Telugu film, as well as independent and art films and also starred ...

and includes interviews with elderly activists of the Khudai Khidmatgar movement as well as major political figures in Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. The film had its Middle-Eastern premier at the 3rd

Middle East International Film Festival The Abu Dhabi Film Festival (ADFF; ar, مهرجان أبو ظبي السينمائي), formerly the Middle East International Film Festival, was an international film festival held in the city of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates from 2007 to 2 ...

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dha ...

in October, 2009, where it won the top award for documentary films. The BBC quoted

Afrasiab Khattak Afrasiab Khattak ( ps, افراسیاب خټک; ) is a Pashtun nationalist politician and political analyst who is a senior leader of the National Democratic Movement (NDM). He has formerly served as the chairperson of the Human Rights Comm ...

, head of the

Awami National Party The Awami National Party (ANP; ur, , ps, اولسي ملي ګوند; lit. ''People's National Party'') is a Pashtun nationalist, secular and leftist political party in Pakistan. The party was founded by Abdul Wali Khan in 1986 and its cur ...

North-West Frontier Province The North-West Frontier Province (NWFP; ps, شمال لویدیځ سرحدي ولایت, ) was a Chief Commissioner's Province of British India, established on 9 November 1901 from the north-western districts of the Punjab Province. Followi ...

, as saying that "This film will help a lot in introducing Badshah Khan to the rest of the world." McLuhan has stated that she believes the film counters stereotypes. McLuhan reported encountering resistance both in making the film and in marketing it, and stated that one reason was The film had its Indian premier at the 2nd Ladakh International Film Festival on 14 September 2013, where it received a standing ovation. The ''

Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest se ...

'' reported that a private screening of the film had been requested by the president of India for 17 September 2013.

References

External links

''The Frontier Gandhi''
Pashto-language films Biographical documentary films Canadian documentary films 2008 films Documentary films about politicians Documentary films about India 2008 documentary films 2000s Canadian films {{bio-documentary-film-stub

See also

References

External links