Based on a biographical novel by Shrabani Basu, Victoria And Abdul stars the Academy Award winner, Judi Dench as Queen Victoria and Ali Fazal, as her Indian servant-turned-teacher, Abdul Karim. The film follows the unusual friendship that blossomed between the Queen and her Indian servant. Set in the autumn of the monarch's life, it deals with the loneliness and lost sense of purpose she feels until Abdul comes along.
This is the second time that Judi Dench will be seen as Queen Victoria – she first essayed the character in Mrs. Brown (1997). Stephen Frears, whose film Florence Foster Jenkins (2016) won the legendary Meryl Streep an Oscar nomination last year, has directed Victoria And Abdul. At the Mumbai trailer launch of the film, Ali Fazal said, "I had to go through various rounds of auditions before landing the role and I feel extremely lucky to be able to work with such legends so early on in my career!" He also spoke about the fear of being stereotyped in foreign productions and how not speaking with the "Apu accent" was something he had to fight for during the initial days of the shoot. Victoria And Abdul is set to release on September 22, 2017.
Watch the trailer here: