In the film Shakespeare Wallah, the relationship between Manjula and her servant highlights a thought that is, to me, very moving.   While the character of Manjula was rather irritating (though I do think her role was an effective way to contrast the “new” India with the “old” — i.e., colonial — India), I thought that her servant was very useful for making her a bit more approachable for viewers.  And, of course, the servant herself was a very sympathetic character.

As Manjula sits waiting for Sanju, who is off having his fun with Lizzie, the servant is always there to keep her company.  She is Manjula’s confidante, and her constant companion.  About midway through the film, Sanju comes in to Manjula’s apartment after having spent the day with Lizzie.  The servant performs a short mime demonstrating for him how anxiously Manjula has waited.  The mime did more to incite sympathy for Manjula than any other word or act in the film.  It was interesting to me that Manjula is portrayed as, in this respect, somehow wronged by Sanju, and obviously hurt by his actions.  But there is no point in the film in which she manages to demonstrate the depths of her hurt.  Instead, she comes across throughout as being a hurtful, cunning, petty, and deceitful woman.  It is only through the mime that we see another side of the story.  Significantly, that mime is not performed by her.  It is referred to, in the film, as a “mute testimonial,” a phrase which immediately captured my attention.

The idea of a “mute testimonial” raised in my mind the various things that might likewise be thought of in these terms.  The first to come into my head was the idea of the film as a whole.  It seems to me that it is an acting out of a very difficult and painful time in the history of India, and also the British Empire.  I can imagine that in 1965, when the film was made, it was still somewhat difficult for either nation to really express for itself the sorts of growing pains it was undergoing.  A film like this, though, can function in the role of the servant, acting out the pains and hurts, putting them on display, making them known where before they might have been unnoticed.

It seems to me that art often works in this way.  A similarly faithful servant, art is always there beside us, understanding what we seem incapable of expressing... and somehow expressing it for us.  Whether in the form of a mime, a sculpture, a poem, a song, or even a blog, it is a comfort to know that there is this avenue of “mute testimonial.”

© 2007 Shelly Bryant

              [ 1 ]       [ 2 ]       [ 3 ]       [ 4 ]