This book analyses 100 years of Hindi cinema, India’s principal film industry, to explore how much space it has given to Mahatma Gandhi, the most prominent leader of the Indian struggle for freedom, and his principles. It compares films on Gandhi with the written literature on him, and juxtaposes the celluloid Gandhi with the man who walked on the earth ‘ever in flesh and blood’. From his childhood through his legal practice in South Africa to his non-violent struggle against the British Empire in India, the book covers all major events of his life and their portrayal on the silver screen.

This is the extraordinary story of how one man's indomitable spirit inspired a nation to triumph over tyranny. This is the story of Mahatma Gandhi, a man who owned nothing-and gained everything.

While the nation was celebrating Independence from British Rule and singing all praises for the ‘Father of The Nation’ – Mahatma Gandhi, the news of his assassination came as a shock. He was shot in the chest three times while he was walking towards the prayer grounds at the Birla House, New Delhi. The man behind the assassination – Nathuram Godse was a well known nationalist. He was arrested at the crime scene and sentenced to death after a year long trial. The book contains the final speech given by Godse in the court, mentioning the reason behind the drastic step he took.

Hindi cinema, ever since Independence, has revolved almost entirely around issues of sex and money. This may seem odd given the conservative taste of the times. But that we do not 'see' sex does not hide just how much sex there is in the cinema. As for money, a nagging theme is the impact of money - or the lack of it - on sex. Sanjay Suri argues that Hindi cinema was an unlikely offspring of the Father of the Nation - the product of Gandhi's celibacy and austerity. His heroic retreat from wealth and sexuality was written into the cinema and then elaborately filmed shot by shot. Suri draws on numerous examples - from Mother India to Do Bigha Zameen; Shree 420 to Pyaasa; Sahib, Bibi aur Ghulam to Guide; and Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge to Lage Raho Munnabhai - to show how cinema was made within well-defined moral fences that were built with dos and don'ts about sex and money. A Gandhian Affair is a history of India through the preoccupations of its cinema.