Viceroy's House 2017

     The setting of this film is in New Dehli of March 1947 and some later events take place from 1948 to 1950.  Lord Louis Mountbatten, his wife Edwina and his eighteen-year-old daughter Pamela will be coming to the huge and stately Viceroy’s Palace.  Five hundred employees are preparing for the arrival of the last British Viceroy in India.  It will be a difficult task for Mountbatten to transition British India to independence.  An added element is the possibility of creating Pakistan, a new state formed from India.  The Muslims and the Hindus want to separate themselves from each other both geographically and politically.  Mountbatten and Jawaharlal Nehru want India to be a single nation of two faiths.  Muhammad Ali Jinnah prefers the option of Partition, the creation of the new Muslim nation of Pakistan.  There are riots erupting across India with intensifying violence between Muslims and Hindus.

     This is a very difficult time for Lord Mountbatten and his family plus all of the people living in India.  I know the romance between Mountbatten’s valet Jeet and Alia is included to humanize this film and feature a couple that audiences can relate to.  Mountbatten is very angry when he learns the boundaries of Pakistan have been created as a buffer state between the Indian subcontinent and the Soviet Union.  As a result, millions of people will be displaced.  The Mountbatten’s decide to stay on in India to assist with an overwhelming number of refugees in Delhi.  3 ½* (I liked this movie)

106 min, Bio directed by Gurinder Chadha with Hugh Bonneville, Gillian Anderson, Manish Dayal, Huma Qureshi, Michael Gambon, Om Puri, David Hayman, Simon Callow, Denzil Smith, Neeraj Kabi, Tanveer Ghani, Lily Travers.

Note:  Imdb 6.6 out of 10, 71% critic 66% audience on Rotten Tomatoes,

Special Note:  Filmed in Rajasthan and Delhi, India.  This is the first film to be released in English and Hindi in British cinemas.  Originally, Gillian Anderson was offered the role of Cora, Countess of Grantham in Downton Abbey in 2010 but she turned it down.  The role was given to Elizabeth McGovern and there were six seasons.  This film is broadly based on actual historical events but personal and romantic dramatic elements are added.