VICTORIA AND ABDUL. Director: Stephen Frears. Screenwriter: Lee Hall, based on book by Shrabani Basu. Cast: Judi Dench, Ali Fazal, Eddie Izzard, Adeel Akhtar, Tim Pigott-Smith and Michael Gambon. Focus Features, 2017. MPAA Rating: PG-13
There is much to commend in this sumptuous and nuanced portrait of the true story of an unexpected friendship in the later years of Queen Victoria’s rule. Her friend is Abdul Karim, a young clerk from India who travels to London in 1887 to participate in the Queen’s Golden Jubilee, and unexpectedly finds favor with the Queen.
The film is based on the book Victoria and Abdul: The True Story of the Queen’s Closest Confidant by Shrabani Basu, a London-based writer who was born in Calcutta. Shrabani’s work was based on first-hand archival research of the Queen’s journals and her Hindustani journals as well as some letters which had escaped destruction.
I had met Shrabani when she was in the Bay Area promoting her book and she graciously agreed to respond to questions exclusively for India Currents readers. When asked about the surprisingly endearing portrait of a vulnerable side to the formidable Queen Victoria, Srabani responded that she had been researching the history of curries when she stumbled upon this story. “Queen Victoria learnt Urdu from Abdul Karim and ordered that curries be cooked in the royal kitchens every day. Her favourite curries were chicken curry and dal.”
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