Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara
DVD cover
Directed by	Jahnu Barua
Written by	Jahnu Barua Sanjay Chauhan[1]
Produced by	Anupam Kher
Starring	Anupam Kher Urmila Matondkar Rajit Kapur Parvin Dabas
Cinematography	Raaj Chakravarti
Edited by	Deepa Bhatia
Music by	Bappi Lahiri Bappa B. Lahiri
Distributed by	Yash Raj Films[2]
Release date	30 September 2005 (2005-09-30)
Country	India
Language	Hindi

Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara (transl. I Did Not Kill Gandhi) is a 2005 Indian Hindi-language drama film, directed by Jahnu Barua and produced by Anupam Kher. The film stars Anupam Kher and Urmila Matondkar.

In the film, a poem by noted Hindi poet, Sohan Lal Dwivedi, Koshish Karne Walon Ki Har Nahi Hoti (Those who have courage never fail) was depicted as the favorite poem of the main character.^[3]

Plot

The film explores the downward spiral of a retired Hindi professor, Uttam Chaudhary, as he falls victim to dementia. After he sees someone carelessly place an ash tray on a newspaper photograph of Mohandas Gandhi, his senility increases. One night his daughter Trisha, played by Urmila Matondkar, and son Karan discover his room on fire. Trisha takes him to a doctor who says nothing can be done.

Then Uttam believes he killed Gandhi by accidentally playing with a toy gun which had real bullets and shooting Gandhi during his walk in Birla House. So they go see Uttam's brother for details. Uttam's brother says that when they were young, they played darts by filling ballons with red dye and placing it on someone's picture.

One day someone found Gandhi's picture and Uttam popped a balloon while their father saw who believed he killed Gandhi, with Uttam replying "Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara" while his father hit him. Later they go to another doctor named Siddharth (Parvin Dabas) who helps Uttam when he thinks that his house is jail and people poisoned his food because he killed Gandhi. Siddharth eats the food so Uttam knows the food is not poisoned. Later, in court, a gun expert says that a toy gun (which Uttam believes he killed Gandhi with) cannot kill anyone....

Cast

• Anupam Kher as Professor Uttam Chaudhary
• Urmila Matondkar as Trisha Chaudhary
• Rajit Kapur as Ronu Chaudhary
• Parvin Dabas as Dr. Siddharth Kothari
• Prem Chopra as Dr. Verma
• Waheeda Rahman as Principal Sunita Khanna
• Boman Irani as Public Prosecutor / Stage Actor
• Sudhir Joshi as Advocate Joshi (also a stage actor)
• Raju Kher as Gattu Chacha, Uttam's childhood friend
• Vishwas Paandya
• Nazneen Ghaani
• Danica Apolline as charity worker

Reception

The movie did not do well at the box office. However, it was much appreciated by audiences and critics. Anupam Kher received critical acclaim for his performance and won a Special Jury Award at the National Film Awards. He also received awards at several international film festivals.^[4][5] Matondkar was also much appreciated for playing the caring daughter of Kher and won the Bollywood Movie Award - Best Actress for her performance.^[6]