Review: Viceroy’s House

Directed by: Gurinder Chadha

Written by: Paul Mayeda Berges, Moira Buffini, Gurinder Chadha

Starring: Hugh Bonneville, Gillian Anderson, Manish Dayal, Huma Qureshi, David Hayman

Rating: [4/5]

Some tasks simply have no easy solution to them seeing as any possible attempt will surely anger one party or another. We’ve seen these impossible tasks throughout history and the one explored in Viceroy’s House certainly ranks highly amongst them as the British try to nicely clean up the mess they created in India and find out that perhaps their meddling did not positively impact the nation. 

With the end of the British rule in India imminent Lord Dickie Mountbatten (Hugh Bonneville) receives the appointment to conclude the dissolution of control and to hand over the nation to its people. However, when discussions arise about how India should be left, immense division transpires as some believe the nation should be kept as one while others believe a portion should be carved out for a Muslim state. Violence erupts as the decision looms. 

Telling the story about the creation of modern India through the lens of the British aristocrats piecing it together starts a film already touching on a painful historical period of history on dangerous ground. You can feel the alarm bells ringing but in instances like these, knowing the author of the presentation matters, and having Gurinder Chadha helm this story knowing she dedicated this to her grandmother who perished in the violence that transpired in India at the time put me at ease. Seeing the final result only further exemplifies she was the right person to take on this story as it comes together as something quite captivating in its presentation. 

Considering the issues highlighted in this film remain in India even now displays the difficulty of the task at hand. Lord Dickie Mountbatten, carries quite the hilariously British name, but he enters the story with this tough task to complete and he realizes he will not make everyone happy here. Essentially there’s no winning especially because he cares about doing his job well and setting up the people of India for success. While history paints this man’s generosity accurately with this level of benevolence remains to be seen, we get what we receive in this story with the fundamental issue belonging to a disagreement in religion. 

The issues with the Hindu and Muslim population in India take center stage in this movie as it serves as the lynchpin for why the formation of this country comes with serious complications. We see this in the macro with the violence happening, especially with ​​Gurinder Chadha splicing in real footage of the carnage due to these religious differences, but also through the presentation of the couple at the center of the story. With everything occurring with Lord Dickie Mountbatten, we also follow Jeet Kumar (Manish Dayal) and Aalia Noor (Huma Qureshi) as the former wishes to live out his days with him as a Hindu and her a Muslim, which causes plenty of issues. As the film progresses their love story feels a bit superficial and not given the proper amount of time to develop, but it serves its part for the story. It demonstrates not only the religious differences between them but also the pain caused as their loved ones fall prey to the violence on both sides. If we did not have them then even more time would be dedicated to Lord Dickie Mountbatten and other British men speaking in rooms so I am grateful for what they do provide. 

As far as the performances go we do have quite the pair in Hugh Bonneville and Gillian Anderson as the married Mountbatten couple. Each of them brings a ferocity to their roles where they want to do the right thing and speak their mind when they need to. Their characters need to walk the difficult line of needing to answer to their superiors back in England while also doing what will be best for the people of India, which you can imagine does not always necessarily overlap. Bonneville gives the type of performance one would expect from him, but Gillian Anderson steps up to the plate and delivers a compelling performance even if what she receives on the page does not necessarily surpass the typical “wife of a great man” archetype. She certainly steps in and elevates the film through the work done and proves integral to this work as well as it does. 

With all of the carnage and pain involved, Viceroy’s House does not let the British off the hook for how they contributed to the violence that transpired in this era of history for the Asian nation. In a story that occasionally dabbles in the white savior tropes allows for a larger discussion about what they represent to the nation both good and bad. Much of the credit must go to Gurinder Chadha and her team as they handle this sensitive material with care and a way to make it palatable to audiences everywhere, which remains integral.