New Delhi:
Born Krishna Pandit Bhanji, Ben Kingsley best known for playing Gandhi in Richard Attenborough’s historic drama, ‘Gandhi’ is irrefutably one among the few Indians to make an Oscar mark in international films. Making big appearances in movies such as Schindler’s List, Sexy Beast, Iron Man, it still comes as a profound shock that the actor who has won some of the biggest awards in movies remains the quietest when it comes to his win. So, what is the reason behind this chosen-silence?
Like his uncanny resemble to Mahatma Gandhi in Gandhi, Kingsley’s disguise for his onscreen roles can render him unrecognizable. In fact, it still comes as a shock that behind the Mandarin mask of beard and bun in the Robert Downey Jr. movie in Iron Man 3 much as his role as former Afghan President Hamid Karzai in War Machine is the hameleon Kingsley.
The other obvious reason could also be because of his movie choices that does not require him to appear himself on the screen, literally! So, in case you are wondering why the voice of Bagheera in Jon Favreau’s The Jungle Book sounds familiar, it is because Kingsley was behind the microphone to voice the sound of the black panther.
Staying away from the limelight is also another reason why Kingsely is not in the view of the public often. Like some of Hollywood’s greatest actors such as Daniel Day Lewis, Kingsley chooses to live in quiet Oxfordshire, England where the papzz don’t come by often.
Last but not the least, Kingsley has his mind preoccupied in charity that help raise funds for children of the Holocaust or children affected by war-ridden countries such as Afghanistan. In fact, while promoting war comedy drama, War Machine, Kingsley discussed his work with Save the Children. "I was able to visit Afghanistan in 2005 or 2006 when the Taliban were pushed back sufficiently to allow school girls to return to school un-harassed and unpunished," he told CBS News.
We will next be seeing him in David Raymond’s Night Hunter alongside Henry Cavill and Alexandra Daddario. The movie revolves around Henry Cavill’s police detective who teams up with a former judge-turned-vigilante (Ben Kingsley) to stop a serial killer and stay ahead of his deadly plan.
Night Hunter also stars Nathan Fillion, Sara Thompson, Eliana Jones, Emma Tremblay, Brendan Fletcher, and Mpho Koaho.
