A nostalgic Kingsley says he still feels connected to 'Gandhi'

Academy award winner Sir Ben Kingsley walked down the memory lane at IFFI 2009 here and recollected his first embrace with the country when he first came to India to shoot for Richard Attenborough's Gandhi 27 years ago.

"I am still connected to Gandhi. Its a recognition. It's something indelible and extraordinary in my bones," Kingsley, famous for his Oscar-winning portrayal of Mahatma Gandhi, said.

A nostalgic Kingsley specifically named his co-stars like Rohini Huttangadi (Kasturba Gandhi), Alyaque Padamsee (Jinnah) and Roshan Seth (Pandit Nehru) amongst others and credited them for shaping up his performance as Gandhi.

"My performance would have been absolutely impossible and meaningless without the help of my colleagues on the set. They showed me the India which I would have never seen. Gandhi-Nehru relationship is Roshan-Kingsley relationship," he said adding Roshan remained his close friend since then.

The actor said that when he arrived in India this time for the 40th edition of IFFI, he felt exactly the same when he visited India for the first time shooting for Gandhi.

"It (the film) reminds me of the first embrace to the country when I first stepped here. I feel exactly what I felt when Richard said action for the first time while filming Gandhi," he said.

"What's left in me about Gandhi is absolute love. I absolutely love him. If Gandhi got very-very angry about something he converted the anger into something very graceful. That equation is absolutely fantastic," he said.