Gurinder Chadha’s historical drama Viceroy’s House tells the true and turbulent story of the final months of British rule in India in 1947. It is a story that is deeply personal to director Chadha (Bhaji on the Beach, Bend it Like Beckham), whose own family was caught up in the tragic events that unfolded as the Raj came to an end.
After 300 years of British rulers, the last Viceroy, Lord Mountbatten (Hugh Bonneville), is charged with handing India back to its people. The film’s story unfolds within the great house, where upstairs live Mountbatten, his wife Lady Mountbatten (Gillian Anderson) and their daughter; downstairs live their 500 Hindu, Muslim and Sikh servants.
The political elite – Nehru, Jinnah and Gandhi – converges on the house to wrangle over the birth of an independent India and the subsequent creation of Pakistan. Decisions are made that will reverberate to this day.
A much more personal conflict brews below stairs as Mountbatten’s Hindu manservant, Jeet (Manish Dayal), falls for the lord’s daughter’s Muslim assistant, Aalia (Huma Qureshi), and the pair must deal with the cultural and religious obstacles that entails.
Viceroy’s House is out now on DVD. We’re giving away five copies of the film along with five copies of Daughter of Empire, the memoir of Pamela Hicks, daughter of Lord Mountbatten.
To be in with the chance of winning, just answer this question:
