Shakespeare-Wallah [1965] Merchant-Ivory torrent

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Shakespeare-Wallah (1965)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059709/

Shakespeare Wallah is a 1965 Merchant Ivory Productions film. The story and screenplay are by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. Madhur Jaffrey won the Silver Bear for Best Actress at the 15th Berlin International Film Festival for her performance.

Shashi Kapoor ... Sanju
Felicity Kendal ... Lizzie Buckingham
Geoffrey Kendal ... Mr. Tony Buckingham
Laura Liddell ... Mrs. Carla Buckingham
Madhur Jaffrey ... Manjula
Utpal Dutt ... Maharaja
Praveen Paul ... Didi
Prayag Raj ... Sharmaji (as Prayag Raaj)
Pinchoo Kapoor ... Guptaji
Jim D. Tytler ... Bobby (as Jim Tytler)
Hamid Sayani ... Headmaster\'s Brother
Marcus Murch ... Dandy in \'The Critic\'
Pratap Sharma ... Aslam


Loosely based on the real-life Kendal family, this film follows the story of nomadic British actors as they perform in towns in post-colonial India performing plays by Shakespeare. In this story, Tony Buckingham (Geoffrey Kendal) and his wife Carla (Laura Lidell) 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.

Shakespeare Wallah is about acting (specifically, acting for unreceptive audiences), Bollywood film stars, and the cultural clash between British and Indian youth growing up on the same soil. The subject matter makes Shakespeare Wallah interesting to theater buffs, but tone and subtext really drive this film. A pervasive sense of loss gives Shakespeare Wallah form. We witness the characters\' dawning comprehension of an awful truth—that their understanding of their entire lives has slipped through their grasp—and the subtle power of cultural difference comes home.

The faint odor of decay follows the actors as they traverse postcolonial India. Shakespeare Wallah is persistently melancholy, alluding to a heyday when rapt audiences hung on the Buckingham Players\' every gesture and word. We never see this heyday directly; we are left to wonder whether the highlights of the past were colored by youthful enthusiasm, whether India ever really embraced the entertainment being offered by these British Shakespeareans. Clearly, the India we see does not embrace the performances.

Whether or not the heyday was rosy is actually immaterial, because the real issue is Tony and Carla\'s struggle with their legacy. As times get harder and more doors close to them, the Buckinghams are forced to wonder what purpose they are serving in India. Young Indians care little for the sound and fury of Shakespeare, preferring the flash and dazzle of Bollywood musicals. The allusions to British Imperialism cannot be ignored. Is Shakespeare Wallah really about acting?

Shakespeare Wallah\'s biggest strength may be intimate and powerful messages about cultural misunderstanding. Though he has lived among them for decades, Mr. Buckingham still has difficulty communicating with his Indian coworkers and customers. Lizzie has been born and raised in India, but we feel that she is still an outsider. Indian troupe members desert in uncomfortable meetings, where the miscommunications are almost palpable. The Indians also do not fully understand the Buckinghams, a fact that is present but not emphasized. The documentary The Delhi Way provides another angle on this theme, showing startling juxtapositions between Eastern and Western culture.

As these themes intertwine, viewing Shakespeare Wallah becomes a cerebral experience. If you buy into the characters, there is a world of potential to sort through.

A love of India and respect for acting shine through this picture. The love story is not as compelling as the themes of lost purpose and decay, which makes Shakespeare Wallah a less emotional and more intellectual film. Fans of Shakespeare will have a field day with dissecting the context of the scenes with the film\'s plot. Fans of classic film move forward: Others should proceed cautiously.

Also includes conversations with the film makers and cast.