Angoor and Comedy of Errors

 (E-content developed by Dr N. A. Jarandikar)

B. A. Part II

Semester III, Paper No. III

Literature and Cinema

 ‘Comedy of Errors’ and ‘Angoor’

‘Comedy of Errors’	‘Angoor’
Ephesus	Shikarpur
Syracuse	Dinkapur
Egeon (Father of Antipholus)	Raj Tilak (Father of Ashok)
Emillia (Mother of Antipholus)	Shammi (Mother of Ashok)
Antipholus of Ephesus	Ashok R. Tilak from city
Dromio of Ephesus  - Servant	Bahadur from city (Ashok’s servant)
Antipholus of Syracuse	Ashok R. Tilak from village
Dromio of Syracuse – Servant	Bahadur from village
Adriana - Wife of Antipholus	Sudha (Wife of Ashok from city)
Luciana - Sister of Adriana	Tanu (Sister of Sudha)
Nell - Adriana’s kitchen-maid and wife of Dromio	Prema (Sudha’s kitchen-maid and wife of Bahadur)
Angelo – Goldsmith	Chedilal- Jeweller
Solinus - Duke of Ephesus	Inspector Sinha

 

*       *       *       *       *

Similarities in the play and film:

1)   The twin brothers are separated by shipwreck.

2)   The city Ephesus becomes Shikarpur. The city Syracuse becomes Dinkarpur.

3)   Egeon becomes Raj Tilak. Emillia becomes Shammi.

4)   Ephesian Antipolus becomes Ashok R. Tilak from Shikarpur. Ephesian Dromio becomes Bahadur from Shikarpur.

5)   Syracusan Antipolus becomes Ashok R. Tilak from Dinkarpur. Syracusan Dromio becomes Bahadur from Diknkarpur.

6)   Adrian becomes Sudha. Lucian becomes Tanu. Nell becomes Prema.

Major Changes made in the film:

1)   In the play, the father comes to the city in search of the lost twin.

In the film, the father is dead.

2)   In the play, there is rivalry between two cities.

In the film, instead of two cities, there is a reference to a village and city.

3)   In the play, the brother from village knows about his lost brother.

In the film, the brother from village does not know about his lost brother.

4)   In the play, the brother from village comes to city in search of his lost brother.

In the film, the brother from village comes to city to purchase the grape vineyard.

5)   In the play, the mother lives with the brother from city.

In the film, the mother lives with the brother from village.

6)   In the play, there are no songs.

In the film, there are songs.

 

*       *       *       *       *

Angoor, the film

          The film ‘Angoor’ is an adaptation of William Shakespeare’s play ‘Comedy of Errors’. The film was released in 1982. It is directed by Gulzar.

          The events in the film take place in the city – Shikarpur. The film begins with the journey of Raj Tilak and Shammi. They have one identical twin. The name of both the brothers is Ashok.  They stop in one village before starting the ship journey. In the village, Raj Tilak gets one more identical twin. Raj Tilak adopts them as servants to his own sons. Both these boys too have a common name – Bahadur. The next day, Raj Tilak continues his journey. But the ship is wrecked. Raj Tilak and his family members are separated. Raj Tilak is found by a person from Shikarpur. Raj Tilak tells him about his story. He hands over one pair of Ashok and Bahadur to him, and he dies. The person who brings up Ashok and Bahadur is the father of Sudha and Tanu. Later on Ashok from city is married with Sudha. Bahdur becomes his servant. He is married with another lady named Prema. Ashok, Sudha, Tanu, Bahdur and Prema live in a bunglow in Shikarpur.

Sudha is demanding one necklace from Ashok for some days. So there is a fight between Ashok and Sudha. Ashok angrily leaves the home saying he will not return home until he brings the necklace.

          After the shipwreck, Shammi and another pair of Ashok – Bahdur are also saved. They are living in the village Dinkarpur. Grown up Ashok and Bahadur come to Shikarpur. Ashok comes to Shikarpur because he wants to buy a grape yard. In Shikarpur, they stay at one hotel. In the market, Bhadur form city sees Ashok from village. He is surprised looking his master smoking a cigarette. Ashok from city never smokes cigarette. Bahadur asks Ashok to come home. Ashok from village is surprised by the behaviour of Bahadur. So he beats Bahadur. Shocked Bahadur tells Sudha and Tanu about the strange behaviour of Ashok.

There is a song performance of Tanu in a theatre. Ashok and Bahadur from village come there coincidently. After the programme, Tanu drags Ashok and Bahadur to her home. Ashok is not ready to go home. Tanu thinks he is still angry with his wife. Inspector Sinha who knows Ashok asks Ashok not to make any drama. Due to Inspector Sinha, Ashok and Bahadur from village go with Tanu. Now they come to Sudha’s home.

Ashok from city is at the jeweller’s shop. He wants a necklace for Sudha. As the necklace is not yet ready, late at night he and Bahadur return home. At home, Bahadur from village does not allow them to enter the home. Angry Ashok goes to the house of his another friend.

Ashok and Bahadur from village somehow manage to run away from the home. They decide to leave the city as early as possible. The next morning, the jeweller’s assistant gives the necklace to Ashok from village. After some time, Ashok from city comes to the shop and asks for the necklace. The jeweller is surprised by this strange behaviour of Ashok. He goes to the police station. At the police station, there comes Sudha and Tanu too in search of Ashok. Ashok asks Sudha about the necklace. She too denies the fact of necklace.

Ashok and Bahadur from village are going to the railway station. Police catch them at the railway station. For the first time, two Ashoks and two Bahadurs see each other. Everyone understands the problem of mistaken identity. All of them come to Dinkarpur to meet Shammi. Thus all complications are resolved at the end of the film. 

In the film, Sanjeev Kumar is seen in the double role of Ashok. Deven Verma has played a double role of Bahadur.        

         

*       *       *       *       *