'' (1988) is a film directed by
John Schlesinger , with a screenplay by
Ruth Prawer Jhabvala . It is based upon the novel of the same name by
Bernice Rubens .
Bengali immigrant Sushila Sen (
Shabana Azmi ) lives in London with her son Manek (
Navin Chowdhry ) who is musically gifted. She supports them both as a caterer of Indian food while Manek studies the piano with Madame Sousatzka (
Shirley MacLaine ) who is a
Russian immigrant. Madame Sousatzka, while highly talented, never succeeded as a pianist and thus lives through her students, particularly talented ones such as Manek. Manek is soon forced to choose between Madame Sousatzka and his mother who both compete for his attention.
