''The Householder'' (

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

title: ''Gharbar'') is a 1963 film by

Merchant Ivory Productions Merchant Ivory Productions is a film company founded in 1961 by producer Ismail Merchant (1936–2005) and director James Ivory (b. 1928). Merchant and Ivory were life and business partners from 1961 until Merchant's death in 2005. During their ...

, with a screenplay by

Ruth Prawer Jhabvala Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (; 7 May 19273 April 2013) was a British author and screenwriter. She is best known for her collaboration with Merchant Ivory Productions, made up of director James Ivory and producer Ismail Merchant. In 1951, Jhabvala ma ...

and

James Ivory James Francis Ivory (born June 7, 1928) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. For many years, he worked extensively with Indian-born film producer Ismail Merchant, his domestic as well as professional partner, and with screen ...

, and direction of

. It is based upon the 1960 novel of the same name by Jhabvala. This was the first collaboration between producer

Ismail Merchant Ismail Merchant (born Ismail Noor Muhammad Abdul Rahman (25 December 1936 – 25 May 2005)) was an Indian film producer, director and screenwriter. He worked for many years in collaboration with Merchant Ivory Productions which included Directo ...

and director

, a documentary filmmaker until then. They went on to make nearly forty films together, many of which were written by

, who also wrote screenplays adapted from literary classics for them, such as ''

Henry James Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the ...

''' ''

The Europeans ''The Europeans: A sketch'' is a short novel by Henry James, published in 1878. It is essentially a comedy contrasting the behaviour and attitudes of two visitors from Europe with those of their relatives living in the "new" world of New England ...

'' (1979) and ''

The Bostonians ''The Bostonians'' is a novel by Henry James, first published as a serial in '' The Century Magazine'' in 1885–1886 and then as a book in 1886. This bittersweet tragicomedy centres on an odd triangle of characters: Basil Ransom, a political c ...

'' (1984), ''

E.M. Forster Edward Morgan Forster (1 January 1879 – 7 June 1970) was an English author, best known for his novels, particularly '' A Room with a View'' (1908), ''Howards End'' (1910), and ''A Passage to India'' (1924). He also wrote numerous short stor ...

s ''

A Room with a View ''A Room with a View'' is a 1908 novel by English writer E. M. Forster, about a young woman in the restrained culture of Edwardian era England. Set in Italy and England, the story is both a romance and a humorous critique of English society a ...

'' (1985) and ''

Howards End ''Howards End'' is a novel by E. M. Forster, first published in 1910, about social conventions, codes of conduct and relationships in turn-of-the-century England. ''Howards End'' is considered by many to be Forster's masterpiece. The book was ...

'' (1992), and '' Peter Cameron''‘s ''

The City of Your Final Destination ''The City of Your Final Destination'' is a 2009 American romantic drama film directed by James Ivory and starring Anthony Hopkins, Laura Linney, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Omar Metwally, Hiroyuki Sanada and Norma Aleandro. It was written by Ruth ...

'' (2009).

Synopsis

Prem Sagar (

Shashi Kapoor Shashi Kapoor (pronounced �əʃi kəpuːɾ (born Balbir Raj Kapoor; 18 March 1938 – 4 December 2017) was an Indian actor and film producer who is best known for his work in Hindi films. A recipient of several accolades, including four Nation ...

), a teacher at a private college in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

, marries Indu (

Leela Naidu Leela Naidu (1940 – 28 July 2009) was an Indian actress who starred in a small number of Hindi and English films, including '' Yeh Raste Hain Pyar Ke'' (1963), based on the real-life Nanavati case, and ''The Householder'', Merchant Ivory Pro ...

) in an arranged marriage and is still learning his role in the marriage, when the arrival of his mother (

Durga Khote Durga Khote (14 January 1905 − 22 September 1991) was an Indian actress, beginning as one of the foremost leading ladies of her times, she remained active in Hindi and Marathi cinema, as well as theatre, for over 50 years, starring in around ...

) spells doom to their budding relationship. Indu, unable to handle his mother's interference in the marriage, leaves Prem to return to her family. Prem searches for answers from a variety of people, including a Swami (

Pahari Sanyal Pahari Sanyal (22 February 1906 – 10 February 1974) was an Indian actor and singer who is known for his work in Bengali cinema. Sanyal acted in many Bengali films, such as ''Harano Sur'', ''Bhanu Goenda Jahar Assistant'', and ''Shilpi''. B ...

), who reveals the secret of a successful marriage, and as a result, Prem finally gains the maturity to love his wife.

Cast

- Prem Sagar *

– Indu *

- Prem's mother *

Achala Sachdev Achala Sachdev (3 May 1920 – 30 April 2012) was an Indian actress who appeared in classic films of Hindi language film industry. She was from Peshawar and started her career as a child actor. She later became known for mother and grandmother ...

- Mrs. Saigal *

Harindranath Chattopadhyay Harindranath Chattopadhyay (2 April 1898 – 23 June 1990) was an Indian English poet, dramatist, actor, musician and a member of the 1st Lok Sabha from Vijayawada constituency. He was the younger brother of Sarojini Naidu ...

- Mr. Chadda * Pratap Chandra Sen- Sohanlal *

Romesh Thapar Romesh Thapar (1922–1987) was an Indian journalist and political commentator. Affiliated with the Communist Party of India (Marxist), Thapar was the founder-editor of the monthly journal ''Seminar,'' published from New Delhi, India. Early life ...

- Mr. Khanna (The Principal) * Indu Lele - Mrs. Khanna *

Pinchoo Kapoor Pinchoo Kapoor (1927 – April 28, 1989) was an Indian actor born in Rawalpindi, Punjab Province (British India), Punjab, British India in 1927. He acted in many Hindi films during the 1970s and 1980s. His film career lasted from 1969 to 1989. ...

- Mr. Saigal *

Prayag Raaj Prayag is a historical name of the area near the confluence of the Ganges and Yamuna rivers in the modern-day city of Allahabad in northern India. It may also refer to: Places Localities in Allahabad * a locality in the city of Allahabad; t ...

- Raj * Shama Beg - Mrs. Raj * Patsy Dance - Kitty * Walter King - Professor * Ernest Castaldo - Ernest *

- Swami

Production

Ivory had shot the documentary '' The Delhi Way'' and was editing it in New York, when he met anthropologist Gitel Steed, who was developing a project based on her screenplay, ''Devgar'' about a village in Gujarat. Ismail Merchant was producing the film and had started getting together the finances for the film.

Sidney Meyers Sidney Meyers (March 9, 1906 – December 4, 1969), also known by the pen name Robert Stebbins was an American film director and editor. Sidney Meyers is best known for two documentary films: '' The Quiet One'', which he wrote and directed, a ...

was the director, while Ivory agreed to shoot the film, whose cast included Shashi Kapoor, Durga Khote and Leela Naidu. When the film fell through due to lack of complete financing, Merchant suggested the idea of ''The Householder'', and the same cast was used. The film cost $125,000, with some of the money Ivory had borrowed from his father. It was made in two versions, Hindi and English, the latter was picked up for distribution in the United Kingdom by

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

. Shooting for the film started in 1961 and was completed in 1963. The film was shot entirely on location in

Mehrauli Mehrauli is a neighbourhood in South Delhi, a district of Delhi in India. It represents a constituency in the legislative assembly of Delhi. The area is close to Gurgaon and next to Vasant Kunj. History Mehrauli is one of the seven medieva ...

and

Ghaziabad Ghaziabad () is a city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and a part of Delhi NCR. It is the administrative headquarters of Ghaziabad district and is the largest city in western Uttar Pradesh, with a population of 1,729,000. Ghaziabad Muni ...

. Householder - Description
/ref>

Satyajit Ray Satyajit Ray (; 2 May 1921 – 23 April 1992) was an Indian director, screenwriter, documentary filmmaker, author, essayist, lyricist, magazine editor, illustrator, calligrapher, and music composer. One of the greatest auteurs of fil ...

exerted an important influence both on Ivory and Merchant, as well as on this film. In an uncredited assist, he supervised the film's music production and re-cut the film for Merchant and Ivory. He also lent his cameraman,

Subrata Mitra Subrata Mitra (12 October 1930 – 7 December 2001) was an Indian cinematographer. Acclaimed for his work in ''The Apu Trilogy'' (1955–1959), Mitra often is considered one of the greatest Indian cinematographers. Early life and educati ...

, as the director of photography, and as a result the film is infused with the fluid, restrained lyricism that characterizes Ray's work.

Crew

* Music:

Ustad Ali Akbar Khan Ali Akbar Khan (14 April 192218 June 2009) was a Indian Hindustani classical musician of the Maihar gharana, known for his virtuosity in playing the sarod. Trained as a classical musician and instrumentalist by his father, Allauddin Khan, he ...

* Incidental Music ** Jyotirendera Moitra **

Vanraj Bhatia Vanraj Bhatia (Hindi: वनराज भाटिया ; 31 May 1927 – 7 May 2021) was an Indian composer best known for his work in Indian New Wave cinema. He was also one of the leading composers of Western classical music in India. Bha ...

* Costume Design - Bettina Gill * Production - Bhanu Ghosh * Hindi dialogue - R.G. Anand

Reception

A ''

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

'' review called it "a low-key but rewarding character piece" and "an artful social satire and also a quietly affecting love story", while ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' was rather dismissive.New York Times Review
''

'', 13 October 1963. Mike Clark of ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

'' called it: "...A charming comedy of marital discord...", gave it, 3 out of 4 stars.

References

External links

* *
''The Householder'' overview at Merchant Ivory website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Householder, The 1963 films 1963 drama films Merchant Ivory Productions films English-language Indian films Films based on American novels Films directed by James Ivory Films with screenplays by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala Films set in Delhi Films shot in Delhi 1960s Hindi-language films 1963 directorial debut films