Shakespeare Wallah
Template:Short description Template:Use Indian English Script error: No such module "Unsubst". Template:Infobox film/short descriptionScript error: No such module "Infobox".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "[". Shakespeare Wallah is a 1965 Merchant Ivory Productions film. The story and screenplay are by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, about a travelling family theatre troupe of English actors in India, who perform Shakespeare plays in towns across India, amidst a dwindling demand for their work and the rise of Hindi film industry. Madhur Jaffrey won the Silver Bear for Best Actress at the 15th Berlin International Film Festival for her performance. The music was composed by Satyajit Ray.[1]
Plot
Loosely based on the real-life actor-manager Geoffrey Kendal's family and his travelling "Shakespeareana Company", which earned him the Indian sobriquet "Shakespearewallah", the film follows the story of nomadic British actors as they perform Shakespeare plays in towns in post-colonial India.[2] In this story, Tony Buckingham (Geoffrey Kendal) and his wife Carla (Laura Liddell) oversee the troupe. Their daughter, Lizzie Buckingham (Felicity Kendal), falls in love with Sanju (Shashi Kapoor), who is also romancing Manjula (Madhur Jaffrey), a Bollywood film star.
In real life, Kapoor fell in love with and married Geoffrey Kendal's elder daughter Jennifer Kendal. Their marriage was an important contribution to the Indian film industry until Kendal's death in 1984.
Cast
- Shashi Kapoor as Sanju
- Felicity Kendal as Lizzie Buckingham
- Geoffrey Kendal as Tony Buckingham
- Laura Liddell as Carla Buckingham
- Madhur Jaffrey as Manjula
- Utpal Dutt as Maharaja
- Praveen Paul as Didi
- Prayag Raj as Sharmaji (as Prayag Raaj)
- Pinchoo Kapoor as Guptaji
- Jim D. Tytler as Bobby (as Jim Tytler)
- Hamid Sayani as Headmaster's Brother
- Marcus Murch as Dandy in 'The Critic'
- Partap Sharma as Aslam
- Jennifer Kendal as Mrs Bowen (uncredited)
- Ismail Merchant as Theater Owner (uncredited)
Production
After the success of the first film, The Householder (1963), the team of Ivory and Merchant reunited with screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala and actor Shashi Kapoor for this film. Due to budget constraints, the film was shot in black and white, and the Kendal family play their own fictionalized counterparts, the Buckinghams.[3][4]
Reception
Script error: No such module "Unsubst". The film holds a score of 89%, based on 9 critics, on Rotten Tomatoes.[5]
Home media
The film was released on DVD from Odyssey, as well as in a boxset as part of the Merchant Ivory Collection of the Merchant Ivory Productions.[6]
References
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External links
- Shakespeare Wallah at the British Film Institute
- Script error: No such module "If empty". at IMDbTemplate:EditAtWikidataScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".Template:WikidataCheck
- Merchant Ivory overview
Further reading
- Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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- Pages with script errors
- Pages using infobox film with flag icon
- 1965 films
- 1965 drama films
- Films about Indian Americans
- English-language Indian films
- Films about theatre
- Merchant Ivory Productions films
- Films directed by James Ivory
- Films with screenplays by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
- American films based on actual events
- Indian films based on actual events
- Films set in India
- American black-and-white films
- Indian black-and-white films
- Films set in the 1950s
- Films set in Lucknow
- Asian-American drama films
- Films with screenplays by James Ivory
- Films shot in Lucknow
- 1960s English-language films
- 1965 American films
- 1965 Indian films