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

Pashtun Pashtuns (, , ; ;), also known as Pakhtuns, or Pathans, are an Iranic ethnic group primarily residing in southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. They were historically also referred to as Afghans until 1964 after the ...

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 Ghaffar Khan (; 6 February 1890 – 20 January 1988), also known as Bacha Khan () or Badshah Khan () was a Pathan activist and formerly an Indian independence activist from the North-West Frontier Province, and founder of the Khudai ...

, also known as Badshah Khan or Bacha Khan. The documentary is the work of filmmaker and writer

T.C. McLuhan TC, T.C., Tc, Tc, tc, tC, or .tc may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * Theodore "T.C." Calvin, a character on the TV series ''Magnum, P.I.'' and its reboot * Tom Caron, American television host for New England Sports Netwo ...

, 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 studies, media theory. Raised in Winnipeg, McLuhan studied at the University of Manitoba a ...

, who spent 21 years to bring the story to the screen after an acquaintance gave her '' Nonviolent Soldier of Islam''. 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 Urdu, Malayalam, Bengali, Kannada, English, Punjabi, Gujarati, Telugu, and Marathi films, as well as ind ...

and includes interviews with elderly activists of the

Khudai Khidmatgar Khudai Khidmatgar () was an Indian, predominantly Pashtun, nonviolent resistance movement known for its activism against the British Raj in colonial India; it was based in the country's North-West Frontier Province (present-day Khyber Pakhtun ...

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 in

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi is the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. The city is the seat of the Abu Dhabi Central Capital District, the capital city of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and the UAE's List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, second-most popu ...

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

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

quoted

Afrasiab Khattak Afrasiab Khattak (; ) is a Pakistani socialist politician and political analyst who is a senior leader of the National Democratic Movement (NDM). He formerly was a member of the Communist Party of Pakistan (CPP). He has formerly served as the ...

, head of the

Awami National Party The Awami National Party (ANP; , ; 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 current president is Aimal Wali Khan, g ...

North-West Frontier Province The North-West Frontier Province (NWFP; ) was a province of British India from 1901 to 1947, of the Dominion of Pakistan from 1947 to 1955, and of the Pakistan, Islamic Republic of Pakistan from 1970 to 2010. It was established on 9 November ...

, 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 The Ladakh International Film Festival (LIFF) is an international film festival that is held annually in Ladakh, India. Inaugurated in 2012, it is the first international film festival to be held in Ladakh. It is held in the Himalayan town of ...

on 14 September 2013, where it received a standing ovation. The ''

Times of India ''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...

'' 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 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