Festival of India: Classic Film Shakespeare Wallah (1965)

Waterlily & Co are delighted to present the first Festival of India in the lovely seaside village of Paekākāriki on the Kāpiti Coast. See Facebook page for more festival events https://fb.me/e/53D8FLup4

Romance-comedy starring superstar Shashi Kapoor, Felicity Kendal (BBC's The Good Life), Madhur Jaffrey. Music by Satyajit Ray. Screenplay by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. The film also stars Kendal's parents and is loosely based on their family theatre troupe who travelled the length of India during the 1940s and 50s performing Shakespeare plays to royalty and bemused villagers alike.
By kind permission of Merchant-Ivory Productions. Phone bookings 027 258 4251. Proceeds to St Peters Village Hall.

"Undeniably beautiful." "A breezy and beguiling study, comedy, romance, elegy" "Mr. Ivory's direction is light and sensitive, managing to suggest the subtlety and comedy and pathos of Anglo-Indian relationships." "a tribute to the gallantry, talent and courage of the Kendals. Its gentle humor, however, has a Chekhovian cast".

'Geoffrey Kendal and his family star together in the film Shakespeare Wallah (1965), produced by Ismail Merchant and directed by James Ivory as the second feature for their fledgling Merchant Ivory stable. In the film, the Kendals’ theatre ensemble, which was named Shakespeareana, morphs into a troupe called the Buckingham Players. In this motley company, Geoffrey and Laura play the parents, essaying the great tragic and comic roles on stage while keeping the books for their winding third-class travels around the subcontinent. Eighteen-year-old Felicity plays their daughter, Lizzie, giving her Desdemona and Ophelia by night while embarking on a romance with playboy Sanju (Shashi Kapoor). Jennifer Kendal, who was Kapoor’s offscreen wife, has a small supporting role and designed costumes for the film.

Shakespeare Wallah is set in a rapidly modernising India whose pop culture is eclipsing English traditions and rendering the Buckingham Players an anachronism. The booming homegrown film industry is represented by Bollywood star Manjula (played by actor turned chef Madhur Jaffrey) who also has a relationship with Sanju. Lizzie finds herself directly competing against a glamorous screen icon, just as the stage views cinema as a rival.' - The Guardian