Gandhi Talks (2026), misses its voice

Gandhi Talks, starring Vijay Sethupathi and Arvind Swamy, is a film with no spoken dialogue. With two very capable actors in the lead, I expected a strong visual experience. What I got instead was a largely mediocre film that felt gloomy from start to finish. There were no lighter moments to pause and breathe. The central idea revolves around money problems, both for the very rich and the very poor. Mangoidiots gives it a Raw.

The film takes its name from Indian currency notes, which prominently feature the father of the nation, Mahatma Gandhi. The idea is straightforward. Across this country, from top to bottom, it is money that truly talks, while people often do not matter. This is a powerful theme and one that had the potential to say a lot. Unfortunately, the film does very little with it.

The story revolves around Mahadev and Boseman. Mahadev, played by Vijay Sethupathi, is a young man trying to secure his late father’s job at the Mumbai Corporation. He lives in poverty with his ailing mother. Boseman, played by Arvind Swamy, is a wealthy builder whose luxurious life collapses due to corrupt politicians and investors trying to strip him of his wealth. Adding to this, he is grieving the loss of his immediate family. When the paths of these two men cross, the rest of the story unfolds. Sadly, the moment where their lives intersect feels forced and unconvincing. From there, the film slowly begins to unravel.

There is no doubt that Vijay Sethupathi and Arvind Swamy bring sincerity to their roles. They do what they can with what is written. Director Kishor Pandurang Belekar could have extracted much more from them. It feels like a missed opportunity. Aditi Rao Hydari appears in a small role and does well, especially in the climax, where she confronts Mahadev and nudges him to see his true self. Siddharth Jadhav, a well-known comedian and actor in Marathi cinema, does make his presence felt. However, the screenplay does not give him enough scope to show his range or comic timing.

The makers seem to believe that simply placing the hyper-rich and the desperately poor side by side is enough for storytelling. There is hardly any effort to develop the characters or explore deeper emotional conflicts. Using Mumbai as the backdrop, with a poor neighbourhood on one side and a lavish bungalow on the other, may have looked good on paper for a pan-India, language-less film. As a viewer, it offered nothing new or striking.

It is hard not to think of the 1987 classic Pushpaka Vimana, known as Pesum Padam in Tamil, by Singeetam Srinivasa Rao, starring Kamal Haasan. That film had no dialogue of any kind. Gandhi Talks does use a few written conversations and mobile text messages. This is not a complaint against Gandhi Talks. It merely highlights how brilliant the earlier film was, in terms of visual storytelling, emotional depth, acting, and overall filmmaking.