British Universities Film & Video Council

moving image and sound, knowledge and access

Last Lear, The

Synopsis
Feature film. An ageing Shakespearean actor (Bachchan) is gravely ill, the rigours of a film shoot having left him in a coma. His co-star, Shabnam (Zinta), is deeply worried, but their director, Siddharth (Rampal), remains distant and refuses to visit his ailing star. In flashbacks, their story emerges. The impatient director attempts to win the trust and collaboration of the aged performer, who sits raging against the modern world from the sanctuary of his study. He champions the superiority of Shakespeare over anything cinema can create. And yet, the movies hold out a new challenge. Once he agrees to act in the film, THE LAST LEAR becomes a reflection on the comparative artifices of stagecraft and cinema.
Language
English
Country
India
Medium
Film
Technical information
Colour / Sound
Year of release
2007
Duration
123 mins

Credits

Director
Rituparno Ghosh
Producer
Arindam Chowdhun
Cinematographer
Abhik Mukhopadyay
Screenplay
Rituparno Ghosh; Utpal Dutt
Music
21 Grams
Production Design
Indrani Ghosh
Cast
Amitabh BachchanHarish ‘Harry’ Mishra
Arjun RampalSiddarth
Preity ZintaShabnam

Additional Details

Production type
Fiction Films
Plays
King Lear
Keywords
Shakespeare, William (1564-1616)

Notes

Notes
Estimated budget 100,000 NPR
General
Based on Utpal Dutt’s stage play Aajker Shahjahan.
History
Shown at The Times-BFI 51st London Film Festival.
Reviews
Paromita Chakravarti ‘Interrogating"Bollywood Shakespeare" : Reading Rituparno Ghosh’s The Last Lear’ in Bollywood Shakespeares ed. Criaig Dionne and Parmita Kapadia (Palgrave Macmillan 2014) pp. 127-145.

Production Company

Name

Planman Motion Pictures

Online Retailer

Name

Bollywood DVDs

Email
info@bollywooddvds.com
Web
http://www.bollywooddvds.com External site opens in new window
Phone
08708 553 385
Fax
08708 553 386
Address
Beacontree Court
Beacontree Plaza
Gillette Way
Reading
RG2 OBS
Notes
Online supplier of Bollywood DVDs and Blu-ray discs. The collection is searchable by language as well as title, etc, and a number of films have English subtitles.

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