Victoria & Abdul
Short description
Victoria & Abdul tells the story of the friendship that develops between Queen Victoria and Abdul Karim, a young Indian clerk who travels to Britain for the queen's Golden Jubilee in 1887. Karim catches the monarch's attention and soon becomes a trusted attendant and confidant. Their closeness unsettles the royal household and the queen's family, who resent his influence and work against him.
Stephen Frears directed the film, the twenty-second of his twenty-three features to date, arriving between Florence Foster Jenkins in 2016 and The Lost King in 2022. Lee Hall wrote the screenplay, and Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner and Tracey Seaward produced. Judi Dench plays Victoria, with Ali Fazal as Abdul Karim, alongside Tim Pigott-Smith, Eddie Izzard, Adeel Akhtar and Michael Gambon.
Made for about 22 million USD, the film took roughly 67 million USD worldwide, a solid return on its budget. On IMDb it holds 6.8 out of 10 from around 40,000 votes, while on TMDB it sits at 6.9 from about 1,200 votes. Critics were less enthusiastic, giving it 6.1 from 196 reviews, a noticeable gap below the audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- The final on-screen appearance of Tim Piggot-Smith (who played Sir Henry Ponsonby). The actor passed away before the film's release. The movie is dedicated to his memory.
- The costumes used in the film were put on public display at Osborne House on the north coast of the Isle of Wight, where they remained until September 30, 2017. Osborne House is an Italian-style palace that served as a summer residence for the royal family.
- When introducing her granddaughter Sophia to the Karims, Victoria calls her the Queen of Greece. Sophia became the Queen of Greece in 1913.
- Abdul refers to his home province as Uttar Pradesh in at least two instances. This name only came into common use in 1950. During the time period depicted in the film, this region was known as the 'United Provinces'.
- On November 18, 2016, activists from the far-right Hindu organization Bajrang Dal staged a protest on the film set against the installation of a statue of Queen Victoria in the Moon Garden of Agra, which was required by the script. The filmmakers immediately draped the statue and left the city. Production had to be halted, and the scenes originally planned to be shot on location in Agra were subsequently filmed in matching sets in London.
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