NEW ON THE BIG SCREEN / VICEROY’S HOUSE
TRUE-LIFE DRAMA. With HUGH BONNEVILLE, GILLIAN ANDERSON and MANISH DAYAL. Director: GURINDER CHADHA. 10-12PG P. In SA cinemas now. Downton Abbey’s Hugh Bonneville stars as Lord Mountbatten (Prince Philip’s uncle), “the last Viceroy of India” tasked with overseeing a smooth transition of power in 1947 as Britain relinquishes control of the country after 200 years of colonial rule.
He and his wife, Edwina (Anderson, who steals every scene with her sharp wit and posh accent), set out to unite an India divided along religious lines, but even as they try to unite Hindu and Muslim leaders they’re being undermined by British officials. The politics play out against the more personal story a pair of star-crossed lovers (Dayal and Huma Qureshi), one Hindu and the other Muslim, who fall on opposite sides of the new divide.
As a history lesson the film holds your attention and the depiction of real-life figures such as Mahatma Gandhi (Neeraj Kabi) and Winston Churchill (Gerry George) make it an interesting watch. But the action jumps awkwardly between the bureaucratic manoeuvring and melodramatic “forbidden love” plots, with neither story having much depth.
Chadha’s grandparents were directly affected by the partition of India and though her depiction of events is a tad soapy and she drags things on for too long, there are striking scenes that bring the subcontinent’s rich history vividly into focus. – LINDSAY DE FREITAS