Charming old Queen Vic

The odd couple in action.172763_01

Victoria and Abdul
Starring: Ali Fazal, Judi Dench, Tim Piggott-Smith

Charming and amusing is the only way to describe the latest offering by director Stephen Frears (Philomena, The Queen, Florence Foster Jenkins).
Chronicling the friendship of Queen Victoria and a young clerk from India over the final 15 years of her life (though in the movie it never feels like it’s 15 years, rather a few weeks), Victoria and Abdul is opulent and high on pomp and ceremony – a beautiful costume drama – light and fun for the most part. If you are expecting an in-depth analysis of the mistreatment of Indians under British rule, then this is not your film.
The impressive cast is led by Bollywood actor Ali Fazal and the one and only Judy Dench reprising her role from 1997’s Mrs Brown. At one stage Abdul Karim is even described as “the brown John Brown” and maybe he is – another man helping the lonely queen through the final years of her life, bringing her back to life, letting her reclaim her humanity.
The queen we meet this time is struggling to get through her Jubilee celebrations – being dragged out of bed and dressed, still sleeping, off to event after event, banquet after banquet. It is this queen that meets Abdul, a young prison clerk, who is picked to come to London to present a coin to the queen. The two form an unlikely devoted friendship as the queen questions the constrictions of her long career as queen, much to the chagrin of her son Bertie (Eddie Izzard) and her staff. And, it’s the quality of the support cast led by the late Tim Pigott-Smith which really lift this and give it warmth and depth.
This is “mostly” (as it says at the beginning of the movie) a true story. After her death, the Muslim Karim seems to have been erased from history by the royal family and household with his story only really being brought to light in 2010 by an Indian journalist – just over 100 years after his death. It is probably for this reason, while Dench’s Queen is so beautifully realised and fleshed out, Abdul remains a bit two-dimensional and you never quite know where you are with him, despite Fazal’s emotional portrayal.