The movie was made after the modest success of The Householder and focused on a touring troupe of Shakespearean actors in postcolonial India, The Buckingham Players. The family patriarch, Tony Buckingham (Geoffrey Kendal), his wife, Carla (Laura Liddell), and their grown daughter, Lizzie (Felicity Kendal), form the backbone of this group as they move from village to village, trying to scratch out a living by performing the works of Shakespeare for the often culturally deprived audiences. As the movie progresses, it becomes obvious that the future of the troupe is not looking good since modern cinema is replacing them as entertainment value for the Indian audiences they had so relied on in the past. Much like radio shows replaced books, then movies replaced radio before television replaced movies as the dominant format for mass entertainment here in the USA, the writing is on the wall for the Buckingham Players. They are slow to realize this fact since they have literally poured their entire lives into this career and believe in the mission of educating the masses (whether they want it or not). This is a holdover attitude many British hold towards their former colony in postcolonial India and the statement the movie makes in this regard is clear and convincing.

The movie also spends a lot of time looking at the relationship between Lizzie and an indigenous playboy, Sanju (Shashi Kapoor) as they flirt and interact in a variety of settings. He is torn between the young starlet, a fascinating woman for him and perhaps more than a trophy to show off his success, and a young Indian movie star, Manjula (Madhur Jaffrey). Manjula has plans of her own that don't include the British actress and will let nothing stand in her way. This story weaves into the overall theme of the decline of Western influence in India on several levels, helping to add something more down to earth than the larger theme would comfortably handle.

An interesting fact behind the making of this movie is that it was semi-autobiographical in nature for the lead performers. They really did have a touring troupe and they performed Shakespeare to the masses in India, although it was stated that they had more success in real life than the fictional Buckingham Players, there was always a subtext regarding the clash of cultures, both in the love story and the performing troupe aspect of the movie; each of which was so multi-layered as to offer lots of replay value.

If you're looking for a movie that appeared almost sculpted in terms of the performances (a compliment, I assure you), the direction, and the look at the time-worn theme of change and resistance to said change, I can honestly tell you that Shakespeare Wallah is going to be worth a rating of Recommended for you. Especially for such an early effort by the trio that forms Merchant Ivory, this was a cornerstone in their long-term success that even dusty old critics like myself can appreciate.

Picture: The picture was presented in its original 1.78:1 ratio anamorphic widescreen B&W, as originally shot. The movie was shot for $80,000 forty years ago in India so you can expect that the picture was full of flaws such as grain, print scratches, video noise and even some edge enhancement. While those factors were present, the print used for the DVD had a new digital transfer created on a Spirit Datacine from a 35mm composite fine-grain, and the MTI Digital Restoration System was used to improve it as much as possible. The subtleties of B&W also allowed for some interesting uses of contrasts and other effects that furthered the story nicely. In short, it looked very good for the age and circumstances of the filming, although not up to snuff compared objectively to a modern release.

Sound: The audio was presented in the original monaural English (remember, there were two versions made) and it was remastered from the 35mm optical track. The music was scored by Satyajit Ray as was very nicely done and the vocals seemed larger than life more often than not. In all, the sound was well done and stood the test of time for the most part.

Extras: The extras on Merchant Ivory DVD's has been pretty solid in the past and this one is no exception. The best extra for me was the series of interviews with Ivory, Merchant, Kapoor, and Felicity Kendal. Each provided some interesting comments on the production of the movie as well as their personal experiences with the rest of those involved. The next best extra was the documentary The Delphi Way by James Ivory, which took a long look at Delphi (the city) and showed how even today, it was a contrast in cultures and time that defy attempts to modernize away the past like other cities have done. There was also a trailer to the film and an interesting paper insert that detailed some of the aspects of the movie that I might not have otherwise caught from the interviews and movie itself.

Final Thoughts: If you enjoyed Heat And Dust, Bombay Talkie, and The Householder, you're going to like this one as well. There were some slow moments that could've used a trim but taken as a whole, the melancholy look at life here was more than interesting enough for me to enjoy repeatedly. The technical aspects looked solid for such a feature as well and fans of Merchant Ivory will now be able to enjoy this classic on DVD.