In March 1947, after 300 years of British rule, the Viceroy’s Palace in Delhi opens its doors one last time to grandly welcome Lord Mountbatten and his family.
A grandson of the Queen of England, Lord Mountbatten will be the last dignitary to assume the title of Viceroy of India to prepare the country’s transition to independence.
But the task will prove to be much more challenging than expected. After tough negotiations with Nehru, Gandhi, and Jinnah, disrupted by violent religious conflicts, he will have no choice but to endorse the partition of India and the creation of a new state, Pakistan.
At the same time, Jeet and Aalia, two young Indians serving the Palace and divided by religion, will suffer from these events and will have to choose between their love and their loyalty to their communities.
Lord Mountbatten’s decision will cause one of the largest population displacements in history, and its consequences are still felt today.
Far from casting a nuanced view on this complex stage of the decolonization movement, the film paints a hagiography of the controversial figure that Mountbatten is and celebrates British common sense in the arbitration of global conflicts through him.
