Review is full of spoilers
This film deals with the unlikely friendship between Queen Victoria and an Indian servant called Abdul Karim , which the British establishment had tried to be kept hidden because it was embarrassed by it . It was uncovered by Shrabani Basu , who wrote a book on it ; the movie is based on the book .
It is the late nineteenth century and Britain is at the peak of it's power , with the ceremonial monarch being Queen Victoria ( played by Judi Dench ) . She is getting really old and has plenty of children and grandchildren . But she misses her long dead husband and is in need of company .
At this juncture arrives an Indian servant called Abdul Karim ( played by Indian Bollywood actor Ali Fazal ) for presentation of a ceremonial coin to the queen . He catches her eyes by looking directly into them ( something that is forbidden ) . She is intrigued by his strapping good looks and striking tall personality , and asks for him to be bidden to her office to meet her . He immediately strikes up a conversation with her , impressing her with his knowledge of poetry and carpets . He talks about the city of Agra that he comes from , and of the iconic Taj mahal that stands in the city and of the Mughal emperor who built it and other kings of India and Persia . And the lonely queen wants more of his company .
Soon he is everywhere with her , in parties as well as lonely outings to remote lakeside places . The queen even arranges for him to act in a play with him playing Persian king of kings and British women cowering before him . Everywhere he is wearing his Indian turbaned headgear and his Indian clothes . In that era he appears totally out of place in the British establishment . And predictably the British establishment is appalled .
The Prime minister is shocked that the queen has built a durbar hall ( place of audience ) in the Indian style at Abdul's advice , and her son future king Edward is more shocked that she has made this servant her munshi---some sort of secretary . She even plans to made Abdul a knight , and the whole staff practically revolts at this idea and forces her to drop this plan .
Clearly the servant from a conquered race ( the Indians ) has grown too big for his boots and his wings have to be clipped . The chance for doing so arrives when the queen asks the royal doctor to examine him and his wife for not having children . And he is diagnosed with a sexually transmitted disease---gonorrhoea . But the Queen asks the doctor in front of her staff to cure his disease , rather than kick him out of his job as they demand . This even though Abdul has been proven to be untruthful about his past ; he has claimed to be from a family of noble origin though actually his family are just clerks who keep records in Indian jails .
Prince Edward approaches Abdul's sidekick ( played by Adeel Akhtar ) to further malign his past in front of the queen . But the sidekick who has been complaining about being forced to remain in Britain flings choice words and expletives about the British empire instead , thus showing his loyalty to his comrade but also inviting his own death ; the British poison him . The queen grows worried about Abdul , who she has begun to regard as her son . She asks him to go back to India for his own safety . But Abdul stays on .
It is only after her death that the British manage to send him back , but only after they have set fire to all evidence of him and destroyed it....or so they think . But in the modern era Shrabani Basu uncovered it all and hence we have this film based on her book .
What is striking of course is the racism of that era . The British look upon everything Indian as alien , and Abdul and his sidekick are repeatedly treated with condescension . Only the Queen rises above this racism . Judi Dench has put up a reasonably good performance . Rest are appropriate in their roles .
The movie's setting is in palaces and amidst royal pomp and grandeur . But the lavishness has not been exaggerated . Photography is decent , of dinners set in the backdrop of blinding rain and chats beside expansive lakes . Music is decent too , of trumpets blowing when the Queen makes her appearance in public and of piano and of a Scottish dance . The movie tries to make the ending sentimental but I was not impressed .
Verdict---Okay .
Two and a half stars out of five .
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