''Shakespeare Wallah'' is a 1965

Merchant Ivory Productions Merchant Ivory Productions is a film company founded in 1961 by producer Ismail Merchant (1936–2005) and director James Ivory (b. 1928). Merchant and Ivory were life and business partners from 1961 until Merchant's death in 2005. During the ...

film. The story and screenplay are by

Ruth Prawer Jhabvala Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (; 7 May 19273 April 2013) was a British and American novelist and screenwriter. She is best known for her collaboration with Merchant Ivory Productions, made up of film director James Ivory and producer Ismail Merchant. ...

, about a travelling family theatre troupe of English actors in India, who perform

Shakespeare plays William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

in towns across India, amidst a dwindling demand for their work and the rise of

Hindi film industry Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Hollywood". The industry, producing films in th ...

Madhur Jaffrey Madhur Jaffrey Order of the British Empire, CBE (née Bahadur; born 13 August 1933) is an Indian-born British-American actress, cookbook and travel writer, and television personality. She is recognized for bringing Indian cuisine to the weste ...

won the

Silver Bear for Best Actress The Silver Bear for Best Actress () was an award presented at the Berlin International Film Festival from 1956 to 2020. It was given to an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance and was chosen by the International Jury from the fil ...

at the

15th Berlin International Film Festival The 15th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 25 June to 6 July 1965. The festival started selecting the jury members on its own rather than countries sending designated representatives. The Golden Bear was awarded to '' Alph ...

for her performance. The music was composed by

Satyajit Ray Satyajit Ray (; 2 May 1921 – 23 April 1992) was an Indian film director, screenwriter, author, lyricist, magazine editor, illustrator, calligraphy, calligrapher, and composer. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest and most influ ...

Plot

Loosely based on the real-life actor-manager

Geoffrey Kendal Geoffrey Kendal (7 September 1909 – 14 May 1998) was an English actor-manager and theatre director who delivered Shakespeare performances throughout India in the 1940s and 1950s. Early life and family Born Richard Geoffrey Bragg in Kendal, W ...

's family and his travelling "Shakespeareana Company", which earned him the Indian

sobriquet A sobriquet ( ) is a descriptive nickname, sometimes assumed, but often given by another. A sobriquet is distinct from a pseudonym in that it is typically a familiar name used in place of a real name without the need for explanation; it may beco ...

"Shakespearewallah", the film follows the story of nomadic British actors as they perform

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

plays in towns in

post-colonial Postcolonialism (also post-colonial theory) is the critical academic study of the cultural, political and economic consequences of colonialism and imperialism, focusing on the impact of human control and exploitation of colonized people and thei ...

India. In this story, Tony Buckingham (

) and his wife Carla (Laura Liddell) oversee the troupe. Their daughter, Lizzie Buckingham (

Felicity Kendal Felicity Ann Kendal (born 25 September 1946) is an English actress, working principally in television and theatre. She has appeared in numerous stage and screen roles over a more than 70-year career, including as Barbara Good in the television ...

), falls in love with Sanju (

Shashi Kapoor Shashi Kapoor (pronounced �əʃi kəpuːɾ born Balbir Raj Kapoor; 18 March 1938 – 4 December 2017) was an Indian actor and producer known primarily for his work in Hindi films. He is considered as one of the greatest and most successful acto ...

), who is also romancing Manjula (

), a

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...

film star. In real life, Kapoor fell in love with and married Geoffrey Kendal's elder daughter

Jennifer Kendal Jennifer Kendal Kapoor (28 February 1933 – 7 September 1984) was an English actress and the founder of the Prithvi Theatre. She was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for the film ''36 Chowringhee Lane'' (1981). H ...

. Their marriage was an important contribution to the Indian film industry until Kendal's death in 1984.

Cast

as Sanju *

as Lizzie Buckingham *

as Tony Buckingham * Laura Liddell as Carla Buckingham *

as Manjula *

Utpal Dutt Utpal Dutt (; 29 March 1929 – 19 August 1993) was an Indian actor, director, and writer-playwright. He was primarily an actor in Bengali theatre, where he became a pioneering figure in Modern Indian theatre, when he founded the "Little The ...

as Maharaja * Praveen Paul as Didi *

Prayag Raj Prayagraj (, ; ISO: ), formerly and colloquially known as Allahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi (Benares). It is the administrati ...

as Sharmaji (as Prayag Raaj) *

Pinchoo Kapoor Pinchoo Kapoor (1927 – 28 April 1989) was an Indian actor born in Rawalpindi, Punjab, British India in 1927. He acted in many Hindi films during the 1970s and 1980s. His film career lasted from 1969 to 1989. He is best remembered for his role ...

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 Partap Sharma (12 December 1939 – 30 November 2011) was an Indian playwright, novelist, author of books for children, commentator, actor and documentary film-maker. Background Sharma was born in Lahore, Punjab, India (now in Pakistan) and ...

as Aslam *

as Mrs Bowen (uncredited) *

Ismail Merchant Ismail Merchant (born Ismail Noor Muhammad Abdul Rahman; 25 December 1936 – 24 May 2005) was an Indian film producer. He worked for many years in collaboration with Merchant Ivory Productions which included film director (and Merchant's longt ...

as Theater Owner (uncredited)

Production

After the success of the first film, ''

The Householder ''The Householder'' (Hindi title: ''Gharbar'') is a 1963 film by Merchant Ivory Productions, with direction by James Ivory (in his feature directorial debut) and a screenplay by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala and James Ivory, and direction of James Ivor ...

'' (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.

Reception

The film holds a score of 89%, based on 9 critics, on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

Home media

The film was released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

from Odyssey, as well as in a boxset as part of the Merchant Ivory Collection of the

References

External links

''Shakespeare Wallah''
at the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

*
Merchant Ivory overview