I just saw this with my friend over the weekend. We both really enjoyed it but I spent the whole movie wondering why someone would make up this incredibly unlikely story about the Queen of England and India/Islam out of thin air. I was shocked at the end to see that it was "based on true events recovered from Abdul Karim's journals" and now I can't stop thinking about how much truth there was to the tale. Any ideas?
For those who aren't familiar with the plot: it is at the end of the 1800's and Queen Victoria is in power. India is not an independent nation so she is also the Empress of India. Two Indian "servants" come to present her with a coin made in her likeness, a new currency for India. One of the servants is completely enamored with her from the beginning and feels honored to serve her. She takes a liking to him almost immediately, perhaps because he doesn't treat her like others do. His name is Abdul.
Fast forward: after a few conversations Abdul reveals he knows the Koran by heart. Victoria is impressed and asks him to teach her not only the Koran but Hindi as well. He agrees to teach her the Koran and Urdu, a language he says is more appropriate for her to learn because it is regal and elegant in appearance. Victoria decides that Abdul will be her spiritual teacher and refers to him the rest of the film as her "moonchie" (not sure how to spell this).
Naturally, the elevation in status of an Indian man in 1800's England does not sit well with the rest of the Queen's staff, including her family and other royal dignitaries. They attempt multiple times to turn Victoria against him, including telling her that he is "common," revealing that he has gonorrhea, and finally informing her that he mislead her about a riot that had recently occurred in India, turning many Indians against the Queen. All of this is true, but the last one is the thing that hurts Victoria: Abdul told her that the Muslims in India are her friends and that they helped stop the riot, not that they perpetrated it.
Victoria tells Abdul to leave. Later that night she changes his mind and begs him to stay. He stays with her until she dies. Almost immediately after her death Victoria's son, who assumes the throne, ransacks Abdul's home on the castle grounds and destroys everything he had that was connected to the Queen. Abdul returns to India.
Over the course of the film, the Queen does several things that her peers find irregular:
she promotes Abdul, first to a footman, then to her spiritual teacher
she seriously considers knighting Abdul, a move that her entire staff threatens to resign over
she wishes to try a mango
she studies Urdu & the Koran
she brings Abdul's family over from India to stay with them (wife + mother in law).
she transforms a hefty portion of the palace into a "Hall of Indians" featuring the portraits of several prominent Indians (including Abdul) and also a room that was further decorated in an Indian style and contained an exact replica of the Peacock Throne
Beyond the general strangeness of the situation given the time in history, and all the things the Queen did with Abdul, I'm curious about how western countries such as England viewed Islam at the time. I'm also curious about the events that, according to the movie, took place in India at the time. These events include the British empire destroying the Peacock Throne ( and stealing a precious stone that went with it) and a Muslim-led riot against British soldiers stationed in India.
Generally, I just want to know...did this happen?? Did Queen Victoria have a best friend from India who taught her the Koran and Urdu?? I must know.
For those of us who haven't seen it, could you give some specific examples of what in the plot/story you want to know the accuracy of?