The Sabarmati Report received a from critics but saw steady growth due to word-of-mouth and political endorsements.

In Gandhi , the scenes set in Sabarmati are bathed in a specific kind of light—earthy, raw, and serene. The visual language shifts here. The camera lingers on the spinning wheel (the charkha ), the mud floors, and the quiet flow of the river. This is the "deep write-up" aspect of the film’s storytelling: the Ashram represents the laboratory of the soul.