Ruth Prawer Jhabvala’s Heat and Dust has two picnics. But as the screenwriter for James Ivory’s film, she included only Olivia Rivers, a British colonial wife, picnic with the Nawab, the local ruler of a small state in central India.
Bored with her husband, Rivers allows herself to be seduced by the Nawab, an inept ruler of a small state in central India. She overlooks that he supports his lifestyle through excessive taxation and hiring brigands to steal for him. Rivers makes her commitment by attending a picnic with the Nawab and lying to her husband about it. Her sense of adventure is as evident as her marriage is essentially over.
Food is present but of no consequence, a prop for the underlying sexual reason for the picnic.
Featured Image: Olivia (Greta Scacchi) wears white, the Nawab (Shashi Kapoor) wears a black jacket, and the khaki jodhpurs play picnic games.
See James Ivory. Heat and Dust (1983). Screenplay by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala based on her novel (1975); Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. Heat and Dust. London: John Murray, 1975.