Victoria & Abdul [Blu-ray]

Like the story and blending with history

Up front: I subtracted a star because the subtitles are tiny and not on the screen long enough when some Urdu conversations occur. That detracted from an otherwise excellent film.The events are mostly true, although embellished as one would expect from Hollywood. The embellishment does not detract from the movie (for me). If you are a purist you will probably find a lot of nits to pick. If you want to learn something about historical events that give some context to the British colonialism in India this is informative. It also hints at the schism between Islam and Hindu factions in India, which would culminate about sixty years later in the "Partition". But mainly you will gain deep insights into Victoria as a person, and the Queen as a force that is not nearly as absolute as we American tend to think. One surprising fact that surfaced is the Victoria had more than a rudimentary grasp of Urdu, which is very close to Hindi when spoken, but uses a right to left script similar to Arabic. That Victoria was able to write coherent notes in that language, using that script, impresses me to no end and speaks volumes about her intellectual capacity.Others have eloquently written about the great acting and beautiful cinematography, so I will just agree and move on. If you like historical and biographical films - and especially those about Victoria in particular or the British monarchy in general - you will probably enjoy this film. I am sure that I will rewatch it a few more times to catch nuances that I missed during my first viewing. And I will continue to research what little is known about the key players, including the court, to augment my understanding. That is one of my joys of learning.

Good peek into royalty in the 19th century. Touching story of a lonely queen and the people she allowed into her inner circle. Audio quality was not very good, though. Difficult to understand the dialogue at times. Mainly due to different foreign accents but the audio could have been better. Still, a touching story.

Victoria & Abdul is the story of Queen Victoria’s relationship with Abdul Karim, an Indian Muslim. Karim was just 24 years-old when he came to Victoria’s court from the city of Agra, India to be one of her two Indian servants. He was quickly elevated to the title of “Munshie” or teacher, ostensibly to school the Queen in the Urdu language, but he soon became her most trusted confident and advisor on Indian affairs.Queen Victoria had been devastated at the loss of her husband, Prince Albert, in 1861. She then developed a close relationship with her personal servant, John Brown, but he too passed away in 1883. In 1887, when Abdul Karim arrived from India, what developed was a friendship that set the Queen’s household on its ear.When they began her Hindustani lessons, neither the Queen nor her Munshie realized exactly how much everyone in Queen Victoria’s court would oppose him. For the next thirteen years, everyone around the Queen attempted to sabotage their friendship, but she steadfastly refused to hear anything against him.In the book, author Shrabani Basu had framed a very readable book, despite a dizzying number of unfamiliar terms, locations and players. She also made a very convincing argument that, as Queen Victoria believed, the objections raised against Karim were entirely due to racism and class snobbery. Although the film version does not articulate these points per se, the performances of the supporting cast make it plain that the household’s objection to Mr. Karim are in fact due to these factors.Queen Victoria held the title of Empress of India and, as the reigning monarch of the Indian colony, was very much loved by the Indian people. She insisted on having a large number of Indian servants in her household, much to the chagrin and disgust of her family and court. The various people in her life attempted to discredit the Munshie time and again, but were never able to substantiate any claims against him.When Queen Victoria died, the Munshie and his family were expelled from England, along with all the other Indians in her court. All personal correspondence from the Queen to her Munshie were seized and burned after her death and a paranoid persecution of Abdul and his family continued even beyond his death, eight years after his beloved queen. Of course, the situation in India did not continue and British rule was abolished less than fifty years after the reign of Queen Victoria. For over one hundred years the story of the Munshie and his Queen languished in obscurity, until the book Victoria and Abdul and then the film of the same title untangled a very complicated and hidden chapter in English and Indian history. Victoria & Abdul was a very interesting film and the book was an even more interesting read and I definitely recommend them both.

Brilliantly acted and photographed but all in all a bit of a disappointment.For some strange reason they have gone for laughs on what was in reality a sad and tragic tale of a lonely old Victoria taking to a Moslem servant to the consternation of the Royal household as you would expect at the time sadly.Still Dench was perfection itself and should garner some award nods.For myself I would have preferred a more serious telling.There are 2 brief extras containing interviews that add little.

I’d previously watched “Mrs Brown” (Queen Victoria & John Brown) and found it enjoyable. It was extremely well acted by Dame Judy Dench. It was the reason I purchased Victoria & Abdul. She was equally good in this film although the film itself was a lighter slightly more comedic film than Mrs Brown. Some funny one liners within the context of the film (Dr Reid ... “I didn’t spend 7yrs at Edinburgh University to look at an Indian dick”) I’d recommend watching this, on a wet Wednesday afternoon as it’s good but certainly not a “classic” & never going to be an Oscar winner!

Loved this film shows a very human side to Queen Victoria and her warmth to those who were true to her. It was terrible how the royal family treated Abul.. I thought Judi Dench played Queen Victoria beautifully again. The only negative is why the film makers always refer to Queen Victoria as Queen of England which she was not she was Queen of Great Britain and Empress of India. In fact Queen Victoria was very proud of her Scottish ancestry and her connections to the Royal House of Scotland the Royal Stewarts/Stuarts.

Dame Judy Dench's performance makes this film worth watching, but the script is awful, and spoils what could otherwise have been an interesting account of the relationship between Queen Victoria and her Indian subject, The scene of a banquet at the Palace at which Abdul presents a coin to the Queen is just silly. I can best summarise my review by saying that I will probably give the DVD away as this is not a film which I would wish to see again.

5 star - - really, really enjoyed it. Both leads are as good as one-another. So much attention to detail. Faultless supporting cast, particularly enjoyed Eddie Izzard's role as the outraged Prince of Wales. Victoria tried so hard towards the end of her life to protect her 'Munshi' knowing that, after her death, the Royal Household would send him packing back to India. Historically not quite accurate, but artistic licence had to be applied. The lady was ahead of her time.