Gurinder Chandha first earned acclaim for her 2002 superhit film ‘Bend it like Beckham’, followed by ‘Bride and Prejudice’, ‘Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging’. She now takes on a historical saga ‘Viceroy’s House’ which is also available in Hindi. The film is particularly personal for her, as her grandparents were caught up in the chaos of partition, so what we have is a kind of tribute from the granddaughter to her grandparents which should leave you teary eyed.

Circa: 1947. Through a close friend, Jeet (Manish Dayal) has just found a job and starts working for the new British Viceroy, Lord Mountbatten (Hugh Bonneville) and his wife, Lady Mountbatten (Gillian Anderson) as England takes the momentous decision of granting Indian independence in 1947. Jeet bumps into his old friend Aalia (Huma Qureshi) whose father (Om Puri) he helped while serving as a constable in the jail where Alia’s father was. With the British losing out on their popularity and even their servants serving under them stressed out seeing the downfall of their own brethren, India is on the verge of going on a major riot, as one major religious group wants to break away and form a separate nation.

There’s Mountbatten’s chief of staff Lord Ismay (Michael Gambon), India’s eventual first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru (Tanveer Ghani) and Muslim leader Muhammad Ali Jinnah (Denzil Smith), who makes a powerful impression in their roles as take on the British with power and grit. 

The end result is obviously the historical drama that attempts to explain why India became two countries (India and Pakistan) when England gave up its imperial rule. While reports reveal that the film was banned in Pakistan, viewers get to know the Indian side of this story and drama that had unfolded years ago on the partition between the two countries.

The film has a bit of humour and a love angle to keep the story going, while the music by A.R. Rahman injects a great music score.

Cast: Manish Dayal, Huma Qureshi, Hugh Bonneville, Om Puri, Tanveer Ghani, Denzil Smith, Michael Gambon, Gillian Anderson

Directed and Co written by: Gurinder Chadha

Reviewed by Verus Ferreira