Shakespeare Wallah
- Synopsis
- Feature film. An English troupe of actors tour post-Raj India staging performances of Shakespeare to dwindling audiences as British dominance of, and interest in, British culture fades. The film is an ironic examination and comment on British (and Shakespeare) cultural assumptions ruefully acknowledging ‘the victory of the motion picture over the theatre’. There are many sequences from the plays, selected to form commentary on the action. Plays featured are Antony and Cleopatra (II ii, IV v), Hamlet (II iv, IV v), Othello (V ii) Romeo and Juliet (II vi) and Twelfth Night (II iv).
- Language
- English
- Country
- India
- Medium
- Film
- Technical information
- Black-and-white / Sound
- Year of release
- 1965
- Duration
- 124 mins
Credits
- Director
- James Ivory
- Producer
- Ismail Merchant
- Cinematographer
- Subrata Mitra
- Screenplay
- James Ivory; Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
- Music
- Satyajit Ray
- Cast
Additional Details
- Production type
- Fiction Films
- Plays
- Antony and Cleopatra; Hamlet; Othello; Romeo and Juliet; Twelfth Night
- Subjects
- Drama
- Keywords
- India; Raj; Shakespeare, William (1564-1616); theatre companies; Colonialism; Travelling players
Notes
- Notes
- Estimated budget: $80,000
- General
- Geoffrey Kendal and Laura Liddell ran a genuine theatrical troupe who toured India, the Shakespeareana Company, whose nature, if not their precise experience, formed the basis of the film. The Shakespearian sequences in the film were directed by the Kendals.
- Awards
- Berlin Film Festival 1965 - Silver Bear for Best Actress to Madhur Jaffrey.
- Reviews
- Wayne, Valerie ‘Shakespeare Wallah and Cultural Specularity’ in Boose, Lynda E. & Richard Burt (eds). Shakespeare the Movie: Popularizing the Plays on Film, TV and Video (London: Routledge, 1977). pp 95-102.
Production Company
Distributor
- Name
Odyssey Video
- Phone
- 0208 216 6993
- Fax
- 0208 216 6652
- Address
- Unit 1
Dundee Way
Enfield
Middlesex
EN3 7SX
Distributor (DVD)
- Name
BFI Distribution
- bookings.films@bfi.org.uk
- Web
- http://www.bfi.org.uk/distribution External site opens in new window
- Phone
- 020 7957 8938/8935
- Address
- 21 Stephen Street
London
W1P 2LN - Notes
- The British Film Institute is a specialist non-theatric rental distributor of international fiction and documentary films on 16mm and 35mm film, as well as VHS and DVD video. The holdings are so vast that only those titles available on DVD and HD Digital are listed in full on the website, so it is worth enquiring about specific titles that might only be available for hire in other formats. The BFI has partnered with on-line platforms such as lovefilm and blinkbox to deliver a selection of films to buy or rent in digital format, and others are streamed free of charge on the BFI’s YouTube channel or as dowloadable clips on the Creative Archive section of the BFI’s own website.
Distributor (Hire)
- Name
BFI Film Bookings Unit
- bookings.films@bfi.org.uk
- Web
- http://www.bfi.org.uk/about-bfi/help-faq/film-bookings External site opens in new window
- Phone
- 020 7957 8938 / 8935
- Address
- 21 Stephen Street
London
W1T 1LN
Distributor (Sale)
- Name
Retail outlets
How to cite this record
Shakespeare, "Shakespeare Wallah". https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/shakespeare/search/index.php/title/19379 (Accessed 26 Nov 2024)