Viceroy's House (film)
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.png) British poster | |
| Directed by | Gurinder Chadha |
| Produced by |
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| Written by |
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| Starring | |
| Music by | A. R. Rahman |
| Cinematography | Ben Smithard |
| Edited by | Victoria Boydell |
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Release date | |
Running time | 106 minutes[1] |
| Country |
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| Language | English |
Viceroy's House is British-Indian historical drama film directed by Gurinder Chadha and written by Paul Mayeda Berges, Moira Buffini, and Chadha. The film stars Hugh Bonneville, Gillian Anderson, Manish Dayal, Huma Qureshi, and Michael Gambon. It has been selected to be screened out of competition at the 67th Berlin International Film Festival.[2]
The film was released in the United Kingdom on 3 March 2017.[3] The film was dubbed in Hindi titled Partition: 1947 and is scheduled to release on 18 August 2017.[4][5]
Plot
About the inside life of the Viceroy's House in 1947 during the Partition of India.
The final Viceroy of India, Lord Mountbatten, has to oversee the transition of British India to independence but meets with conflict as the sides clash in the face of monumental changes; i.e., ultimately the division of India into separate Hindu and Muslim countries. Downstairs in the servants quarters, Mountbatten's new manservant, Jeet falls for the daughter's assistant, Alia and all manner of obstacles are put in their way.
Cast
- Hugh Bonneville as Lord Louis Mountbatten
- Gillian Anderson as Lady Edwina Mountbatten
- Manish Dayal as Jeet
- Huma Qureshi as Aalia
- Michael Gambon as Hastings Ismay, Lord Ismay
- Simon Callow as Cyril Radcliffe
- Lily Travers as Lady Pamela Mountbatten
- Om Puri as Ali Rahim Noor
- Simon Williams as Archibald Wavell
- Sarah-Jane Dias as Sameera
- Samrat Chakrabarti as Moshin
- Roberta Taylor as Miss Reading
- Tanveer Ghani as Jawaharlal Nehru
- Raja Samar Singh Sarila as ADC Sayed Ahsan
- Denzil Smith as Muhammad Ali Jinnah
- Robin Soans as Evan Meredith Jenkins
- Terence Harvey as Sir Fred Burrows
- Eran Bein as Eric Miéville
- Yusuf Khurram as Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
- Anil Bhagwat as Liaquat Ali Khan
- Majid Khan as Acharya Kripalani
- Lucy Fleming as Lady Wavell
- Neeraj Kabi as Mahatma Gandhi
- Nicholas Blane as Sir Olaf Kirkpatrick Caroe
- Marcus Jean Pirae as Alan Campbell Johnson
- Darshan Jariwala as Guptaji
- Trishaan as Farrukh
- Hriiday Malhotra as Sanjit
- Kamal Karamchandani as Maulana Azad
- Noah Zeiler as Henry F. Grady
Production
On 30 April 2015, it was announced that Hugh Bonneville and Gillian Anderson would star in the historical drama film Viceroy's House to be directed by Gurinder Chadha, which Chadha scripted along with Paul Mayeda Berges and Moira Buffini.[6] The film set in 1947 during the Partition of India, and the life inside the Viceroy's House, would be produced by Chadha, Deepak Nayar, and Paul Ritchie.[6] Pathé and BBC Films would be co-financing the film.[6] On 1 September 2015, more cast was announced including Manish Dayal, Huma Qureshi, Tanveer Ghani, Denzil Smith, Neeraj Kabi, Om Puri, Lily Travers, Michael Gambon, and Simon Callow.[7]
Principal photography on the film began on 30 August 2015 in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India, where it was shot for eight weeks.[8][7]
The film was released in the United Kingdom on 3 March 2017.[3]
Themes
Chadha described the film as the Upstairs, Downstairs view of the Partition of India. She defended her film against criticisms of historical heterodoxy, guided by Narendra Singh Sarila's 2006 book The Shadow of the Great Game: The Untold Story of India's Partition, based on secret documents discovered in the British Library.[9]
Pakistani poet and writer Fatima Bhutto called the film 'a servile pantomime of partition'.[10] Chadha in response argued that "her film about India’s partition of 1947, far from ignoring the freedom struggle, celebrates it."[11]
Soundtrack
Track listing
| No. | Title | Artist(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Viceroy's House" | A. R. Rahman | 2:39 |
| 2. | "Displacement" | A. R. Rahman | 2:35 |
| 3. | "Swearing In" | A. R. Rahman | 2:34 |
| 4. | "Jinnah Meets Mountbatten" | A. R. Rahman | 1:21 |
| 5. | "Limerence" | A. R. Rahman | 1:39 |
| 6. | "Gandhi" | A. R. Rahman | 1:09 |
| 7. | "Pamela and Alia Bond" | A. R. Rahman | 1:24 |
| 8. | "Dickie Is the Man" | Rekha Sawhney | 3:06 |
| 9. | "Two Broken Hearts" | A. R. Rahman | 3:13 |
| 10. | "Ahimsa" | Rekha Sawhney | 2:46 |
| 11. | "The Partition" | Rekha Sawhney, Anand Bhate | 3:59 |
| 12. | "Classified" | A. R. Rahman | 2:18 |
| 13. | "The Birth of Two Nations" | A. R. Rahman | 3:29 |
| 14. | "Exodus" | Rekha Sawhney, Anand Bhate | 4:04 |
| 15. | "Jeet Finds Alia" | A. R. Rahman | 3:03 |
| 16. | "The Cost of Freedom" | A. R. Rahman | 5:07 |
| Total length: | 44:43 | ||
Hindi Version
| No. | Title | Artist(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Do Dilon Ke" | Shreya Ghoshal, Hariharan | 4:45 |
| 2. | "Duma Dum Mast Kalander" | Hans Raj Hans | 3:30 |
| 3. | "Jindwa" | Hans Raj Hans | 3:36 |
| Total length: | 11:51 | ||
Release
Viceroy's House has been selected to be screened out of competition at the 67th Berlin International Film Festival on 12 February 2017.[2][1]
Reception
The film received generally positive reviews from critics. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 78% based on 40 reviews, with an average rating of 6.1/10.[12]
References
- 1 2 3 "Programme - Viceroy's House". Berlinale. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
- 1 2 "Press Releases Competition 67th Berlinale - Competition and Berlinale Special - Danny Boyle, Hong Sangsoo, Thomas Arslan, Volker Schlöndorff, Sabu, Álex de la Iglesia and Josef Hader’s Directorial Debut in the Competition Programme". Berlinale. 10 January 2017. Retrieved 10 January 2017.
- 1 2 "Viceroy's House clip: watch Gillian Anderson and Hugh Bonneville ponder Britain's legacy in India". The Telegraph. 11 January 2017. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
- ↑ "Gurinder Chadha on Partition 1947: Didn’t dwell on Nehru-Lady Mountbatten in film".
- ↑ "'Partition 1947' new poster: Huma Qureshi starrer looks like a compelling watch".
- 1 2 3 Wiseman, Andreas (30 April 2015). "Hugh Bonneville, Gillian Anderson topline partition drama 'Viceroy’s House'". screendaily.com. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
- 1 2 Mitchell, Robert (1 September 2015). "Gurinder Chadha’s ‘Viceroy’s House’ Starts Shoot in India". variety.com. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
- ↑ "On the Set for 9/4/15: Michael Fassbender Starts on Assassin’s Creed, Margot Robbie Wraps on Suicide Squad". ssninsider.com. 4 September 2015. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
- ↑ "Partition, Mohsin Hamid, Gurinder Chadha". BBC Radio 3. 3 March 2017. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
- ↑ Bhutto, Fatima (15 March 2017). "Fatima Bhutto on Indian partition film Viceroy’s House: ‘I watched this servile pantomime and wept’". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
- ↑ Chadha, Gurinder (15 March 2017). "Gurinder Chadha: My film has been wilfully misrepresented as anti-Muslim". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
- ↑ "Viceroy's House (2017)". Rotten Tomatoes.