If you were to see this film but miss the opening credits, the chances are
you would never guess who the director was. Probably think it was an independent
parallel Indian film made on the cheap. But you would be puzzled that the
nearly all-Indian cast spoke only in English throughout the film (there is
a Hindi version as well somewhere). This is though the directorial feature
debut of James Ivory who would go on to make all these glossy much acclaimed
period films. It didn't start out that way and that his first film was shot
in India with the help of the great Satyajit Ray and with a future huge star
in Bollywood as the main actor is rather amazing. Put it down to love. And
luck.
Ivory had made a short documentary in the USA where he was from and it was
shown in New York City. In attendance was Ismail Merchant, born and brought
up in Bombay but going to NYU with a love for films. The two of them connected
- on more than one level as they became lovers and business partners for
over forty years till Merchant passed away in 2005. Merchant thought he could
get the finances back in India where he knew people and so they went off
to make a movie with at the time no money. They had the script for one film
but that effort collapsed when no money was forthcoming. That didn't stop
them - in particular Merchant who was the producer and had a knack for ingratiating
himself with everyone. They had the female lead lined up - the lovely Leela
Naidu who had been Miss Femina, a very prestigious beauty contest. Now they
needed a male lead - why not aim for the top Merchant thought and he crashed
a party that Shashi Kapoor was giving with his English wife and cornered
the flustered actor. Make our film. It will make you an international star.
Shashi Kapoor was of course the youngest of the three Kapoor brothers - Raj,
Shammi and Shashi. Their father was a legend in the theater and occasionally
the screen. Shashi of the three brothers was most drawn to the theater and
frequently appeared on stage. By this time Raj was already a legend as both
director and actor while Shammi was just becoming a star. Shashi though was
just starting off with only a few films in the can - none of which were hits.
He was still looking to establish himself in films - looking for his film
persona. As a Kapoor though opportunities were always at hand. Shammi had
gone through the same process - under the shadow of his older brother -making
a number of bombs before he found the Shammi that we all love. Shashi said
yes to the offer from Merchant and now they went in search of another project
- and the third leg of the Ivory-Merchant team was added.
Merchant had come across a book by the author Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
titled the Householder - a story of a middle class lecturer at a college
who has to deal with his wife, his mother, his job and making do with a low
salary. A very Indian story set in Delhi dealing with culture and relations.
I had always thought that Jhabvala was Indian - but in fact she was a German
Jew who had migrated to England and married an Indian and moved to India
in the early 1950s and began writing. She wasn't thrilled when Ivory and
Merchant tried to see her on letting them film her book. Her husband told
her to boot them out. But eventually she agreed on one condition - that she
write the screen play as well. Bonus! She was to go on and write 21 of the
26 feature films from Ivory - including classics likes Howard's End, A Room
with a View, Remains of the Day, The Europeans and The Bostonians. Ivory
was to stay in India for a while after this film and he set a few more films
there that she wrote - Shakespear Wallah, Bombay Talkie and the Guru. Shashi
was to appear in Shakespear Wallah with his wife and in Bombay Talkie.
Ivory had met up with Satyajit Ray earlier on and they had become friends.
He went to Satyajit with his film idea and Ray had given him the use of some
of his actors, his cinematographer Subrata Mitra and gotten the services
of the famous musician Ali Akbar Khan to write the score. Then when the film
was finished they took the print cans to Ray and he looked at it and said
- let me edit it. And he did. In four days. Quite the coup for a film from
an unknown director and in which both Shashi and Ruth had to forego their
salary. The small story within may be insignificant to others but to the
people in this story it matters - their lives matter. It is the details of
life that matter. The looks between Prem (Shashi) and his wife Indu (Laila),
the things left unsaid, their home set on a roof, her dressing in front of
a mirror and the smile they give each other at the end of the film.
It was an arranged marriage and Prem constantly complains to his co-workers
that she is not smart, educated, a terrible cook and that they have nothing
in common. At a luncheon given by the head of the school she gorges on pastries
as he tries to get her attention to stop. She is too busy gobbling to notice.
He is tough with her - telling her to keep the home clean - spick and
span - and the food well cooked. But only with her - he is a marshmallow
with his students that he can't control and his boss who he wants to ask
for a raise. He sends for his mother (Durga Khote who was famous for playing
mothers) to come and teach Indu how to be a proper wife. The mother does
nothing but criticize the wife and adore her son. It plays out though as
a quiet comedy of manners - he often talks and no one pays any attention
to him - he mutters but there is no anger - just that he is trying to work
out what being a husband means. How does a family work. And won't the mother
ever shut up. Up on YouTube in a so-so quality video.
Info derived partly from the excellent
book Shashi Kapoor by Aseem Chhabra.
