Shakespeare Wallah
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.
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. In this story, Tony Buckingham and his wife Carla oversee the troupe. Their daughter, Lizzie Buckingham, falls in love with Sanju, who is also romancing Manjula, 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
- Pinchoo Kapoor as Guptaji
- Jim D. Tytler as Bobby
- Hamid Sayani as Headmaster's Brother
- Marcus Murch as Dandy in 'The Critic'
- Partap Sharma as Aslam
- Jennifer Kendal as Mrs Bowen
- Ismail Merchant as Theater Owner