Do you want to see ‘Shakespeare Wallah’?

Add to Netflix

Shakespeare Wallah (1965)

tomatometer

All Critics
Top Critics

Average Rating: 6.7/10
Reviews Counted: 6
Fresh: 5 | Rotten: 1

No consensus yet.

No Score Yet...

Average Rating: N/A
Critic Reviews: 2
Fresh: 2 | Rotten: 0

audience

liked it
Average Rating: 3.6/5
User Ratings: 121

My Rating

Added to your Facebook Timeline. — undo

Movie Info

Lizzie (Felicity Kendal) is an actress in a Shakespearean theater troupe that has seen better days. The troupe tours India to dwindling crowds who are less interested in all things British in the wake of Indian independence. When she has an affair with the Indian playboy Sanju (Shashi Kapoor), Lizzie feels the wrath of her disapproving father Tony (Geoffrey Kendal) and her mother Carla (Laura Liddell). Madhur Jaffrey plays the role of the Indian actress Manjula in this romantic drama with

Unrated, 2 hr.

Drama, Romance, Classics

Directed By: James Ivory

Written By: James Ivory

In Theaters: Jan 1, 1965 Wide

On DVD: Apr 27, 2004

Cast

Shashi Kapoor
Sanju
Felicity Kendal
Lizzie Buckingham
Geoffrey Kendal
Mr. Tony Buckingham
Laura Liddell
Mrs. Carla Buckingham
Madhur Jaffrey
Manjula
Utpal Dutt
Maharaja
Jennifer Kapoor
Mrs. Bowen
Prayag Raaj
Sharmaji
Partap Sharma
Aslam
Jim D. Tytler
Bobby
Pincho Kapoor
Guptaji
Praveen Paul
Didi
Hamid Sayani
Marcus Murch
Pratap Sharma
Prayag Raj

Critic Reviews for Shakespeare Wallah

All Critics (10) | Top Critics (4) | Fresh (5) | Rotten (1) | DVD (5)

Very delicate and lovely.

May 9, 2005 Full Review Source: New York Times

| Comment

Bosley Crowther

New York Times

Top Critic

Ivory is particularly acute in catching the peculiar matrix of moods and emotions that hold the troupe together and which keep the British and the Indians from ever really understanding each other.

July 3, 2004 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader

| Comment

Don Druker

Chicago Reader

Top Critic

... a bittersweet drama of the twilight of a theatrical way of life.

December 17, 2011 Full Review Source: Turner Classic Movies Online

| Comment

Sean Axmaker

Turner Classic Movies Online

Surprisingly light and enjoyable early James Ivory film with luminous Felicity Kendal.

July 19, 2004 Comment

Ken Hanke

Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

more intimate and nuanced work than the team's subsequent high-profile period films, like The Remains of the Day.

May 4, 2004 Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com

| Comment

David Bezanson

Filmcritic.com

More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Shakespeare Wallah

View All

An early Merchant/Ivory film featuring the real life Kendal family (including a very young Felicity) as members of a traveling Shakespeare company in post-independance India. Rather enjoyable with nice cinematography and a stealing performance from Madhur Jaffrey as the Bollywood Queen though the ending felt a little rushed and dissatisfying.

August 1, 2009