An early Merchant-Ivory film, BOMBAY TALKIE opens with a send-up of India's lavish musicals as dancers cavort on a giant typewriter in a hilarious production number. However, the film is mostly a somber character study about best-selling English novelist Lucia Lane (Jennifer Kendal), who comes to Bombay in search of creative inspiration. She soon becomes involved with impoverished film writer Hari (Zia Mohyeddi) and handsome and successful married film star Vikram (Shashi Kapoor). Vikram's suffering wife, Mala (Aparna Sen), is barren and Vikram is seduced by Lucia's romantic, self-involved ways. The two begin an affair that soon becomes destructive. Director James Ivory explores the relationship between the cultures of India and England through the analogy of the lead characters' volatile relationship. The film, shot on location on the streets of Bombay, is immersed in a memorable, evocative atmosphere.
