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Victoria & Abdul(2017)
Focus Features Sep 22, 2017 | Wide
Queen Victoria strikes up an unlikely friendship with a young Indian clerk named Abdul Karim.
Releases
Original Release | Sep 22, 2017
Box Office
Results
$158,845
$22,245,070
$44,313,395
$66,558,465
Director & Top Cast
Technical Specifications
Sound Mix: Dolby Digital
Aspect Ratio: 2.35 : 1
Other Details
Country of Origin: United Kingdom
Summaries
Plot Summary
- 1887, British India. Abdul Karim (Ali Fazal), a young prison clerk from British India, is instructed to travel to Britain for Queen Victoria's (Judi Dench) Golden Jubilee in 1887 to present her with a Mohur, a gold coin that has been minted as a token of appreciation from British-ruled India. Abdul is from a Muslim, Urdu-speaking family in India. His family had previously supplied Agra made carpets to the Royal household, and they had been very well received. Abdul travels with Mohammad Bakhsh (Adeel Akhtar). At the actual ceremony, Abdul and Mohammad are made to wait for hrs till lunch is served. The guests can only eat till the time the Queen finishes her course, and then the plates are taken away. The guests need to be fast. She sleeps in the middle of the meal before the desert. After the desert, Abdul and Mohammad are asked to present the Mohur. Abdul was told not to have any eye contact with the majesty, but he ends up having some, while retreating.The queen, lonely and tired of her fawning courtiers (her physician wants her to eat more roughage), develops an interest (she finds him very handsome) in Abdul. Abdul and Mohammad are asked to extend their stay in England. At the next official function, Abdul is asked to serve her jelly and he ends up kissing Victoria's feet in front of everyone. Victoria appoints Abdul as her personal butler. She learns that Abdul comes from a family of carpet weavers and is somewhat of a budding poet.Victoria spends more and more time with him and eventually forms a friendship with Abdul. He tells her all about the Taj Mahal, Indian cuisine and so on. As Victoria relies more and more on Abdul, it belittles the role of Henry Ponsonby (Tim Pigott-Smith), the Queen's official PA. As her son objects to Victoria spending so much time with Abdul, Victoria decides to retreat to a smaller castle, where she can have some privacy. She spends time with him alone and gives him a bejeweled locket with her photograph. She promotes him to be her Munshi and asks him to teach her Urdu and the Quran. As a Munshi, Abdul is no longer a servant. He has a staff of his own and is considered a member of the household. When Victoria discovers he is married, she has him bring his wife to England. His wife and his mother-in-law both wear black burqas, much to the consternation of the household-and the fascination of Victoria.Victoria's family includes daughter Princess Helena (Amani Zardoe) of the United Kingdom, Sophia (Sophie Trott) of Prussia, Sophie (Penny Ryder) of the Netherlands. As Victoria's interest in India grows, she has the Durbar Room built at her Isle of Wight home of Osborne House for state functions. It is elaborately and intricately decorated, with a carpet from Agra, formal portraits of renowned Indians, a replica of the Peacock Throne and carvings by Bhai Ram Singh.While Victoria treats Abdul as a son, his preferment is resented by her household and inner circle, including her son, Bertie (Eddie Izzard), and the prime minister. The household plots to undermine their relationship, hoping that Abdul will be sent home. When Victoria embarrasses herself by recounting Abdul's one-sided account of the Indian Rebellion of 1857 to the court (she says that the Muslims helped the British in the 1857 rebellion. But in reality, the Muslims started the rebellion due to the rifle cartridges lined with pork fat), Victoria's faith and trust in him are shaken. She decides he must return to India, but soon changes her mind and asks him to stay.The prime minister is adamant that the royal household must be rid of Abdul. They research his family background in India and present Victoria with a dossier showing that his family is more ordinary and poor than Abdul claimed (Abdul had said he was from a noble family but turns out he was a simple prison clerk. He is uneducated & is using his position for personal gain). When Victoria insists that her doctor examine Abdul to learn why his wife has not become pregnant (Sir James Reid (Paul Higgins), 1st Baronet, the house physician is ordered to perform this task), he discovers that Abdul has gonorrhea. He expects the queen will dismiss Abdul in disgust, but Victoria remains loyal to him and admonishes her courtiers for plotting against him. She announces her intention to give Abdul a knighthood.Eventually, the household decides that Victoria must break with Abdul. If not, they all will resign and certify Victoria as insane. When Victoria is told by Harriet Phipps (Fenella Woolgar), she angrily summons the entire household and demands that anyone who wants to resign step forward. When no-one does, she says she has decided against making Abdul a knight. She will instead include him in her next honors list as a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order.When Victoria falls ill, she urges Abdul to return to India while she can still protect him and warns him that the court will turn on him after her death; Abdul insists that he will stay until Victoria's death. In 1901, Victoria dies, and her son, Bertie, now Edward VII, rejects Abdul, burning all the gifts and papers from the Queen, and sending him and his family back to India. Abdul's wife saves the locket Victoria gave him. It is revealed that Abdul lived in India until his death eight years later in 1909. The film ends with Abdul kneeling at a large statue of Queen Victoria close to the Taj Mahal, talking to it and kissing its feet in respect.
Storyline
- Abdul Karim (Ali Fazal) arrives from India to participate in Queen Victoria's (Dame Judi Dench's) golden jubilee. The young clerk is surprised to find favor with the Queen. As Victoria questions the constrictions of her long-held position, the two forge an unlikely and devoted alliance that her household and inner circle try to destroy. As their friendship deepens, the Queen begins to see a changing world through new eyes, joyfully reclaiming her humanity. Abdul Karim (Ali Fazal), a young prison clerk from Agra, British Raj, is instructed to travel to England for Queen Victoria's (Dame Judi Dench's) Golden Jubilee in 1887 to present her with a Mohur, a gold coin which has been minted as a token of appreciation from British-ruled India. The Queen, who is lonely and tired of her fawning courtiers, develops an interest in and later a friendship with Abdul. She spends time with him alone, and promotes him to become her Munshi. She asks him to teach her Urdu and the Qur'an. When Victoria discovers that he is married, she invites his wife and mother-in-law to join him in England. They arrive wearing black Burqas, to the consternation of the household. While Victoria treats Abdul as a son, his preferment is resented by her household and inner circle, including her son Bertie, Prince of Wales (Eddie Izzard) and Prime Minister Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, The Marquess of Salisbury (Sir Michael Gambon). 1887. The Indian authorities have assigned two civil servants, Abdul Karim and Mohammed, to travel to England to be an integral part of the Indian's official gift presentation to Queen Victoria, the Empress of India, for her Golden Jubilee, they chosen not for their positions within the civil service - Abdul a prison clerk - but specifically for Abdul a certain physical attribute. While Mohammed wants to get in and out of England as quickly as possible in not liking anything about English culture including the monarchy, Abdul wants to cherish the moment to make it special for the Queen. The Queen is at a phase of being dissatisfied with her life: she has been without Prince Albert, her only love, for thirty years now, she dislikes all that her children have become, including Bertie, first in line to the throne, and she has tired of the conventions of her life, especially in being surrounded by people who treat her as queen, largely for their own benefit and standing, and not a person. In Abdul breaking with protocol during the actual presentation, however small but in a way the Queen does notice, the Queen befriends him in he reigniting interest in life for her, mostly about the Indian subcontinent and its culture, to the point of appointing him in the trusted role of her personal "munchi": teacher. While the Queen and Abdul's relationship is not always a harmonious one, especially in Abdul sometimes shielding her from the truth in his belief it the best for her, the situation between them is made all the more difficult by the Queen's advisers, including Prime Minister, Lord Salisbury, being in revolt in Abdul not only being Indian and inherently a servant, but Muslim. — Huggo
