Dinesh Kamath’s column ‘New movies released in Navi Mumbai’ (Victoria & Abdul and Ranchi Diaries) that was published in Newsband

New movies released in Navi Mumbai

By Dinesh Kamath

Victoria & Abdul

Victoria & Abdul is a 2017 biographical comedy-drama film, directed by Stephen Frears and written by Lee Hall. The film is based on the book of same name by Shrabani Basu, and on the real-life relationship between Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and her Indian Muslim servant Abdul Karim. An unofficial sequel to the 1997 film Mrs Brown, it stars Judi Dench, Ali Fazal, Michael Gambon, Eddie Izzard, Tim Pigott-Smith (in his last film role) and Adeel Akhtar.

The movie narrates an interesting story. Abdul Karim arrives from India to participate in Queen Victoria's golden jubilee. The young clerk is surprised to find favor with the queen herself. As Victoria questions the constrictions of her long-held position, the two forge an unlikely and devoted alliance that her household and inner circle try to destroy. As their friendship deepens, the queen begins to see a changing world through new eyes, joyfully reclaiming her humanity. Thus the movie narrates an extraordinary true story of an unlikely friendship in the later years of Queen Victoria's (Judi Dench) remarkable rule.

The movie has Judi Dench as Queen Victoria, Ali Fazal as Abdul Karim, Eddie Izzard as Bertie, Prince of Wales, Tim Pigott-Smith as Sir Henry Ponsonby, Adeel Akhtar as Mohammed, Simon Callow as Mr Puccini, Michael Gambon as Lord Salisbury, Julian Wadham as Alick Yorke, Olivia Williams as Jane Spencer, Baroness Churchill, Fenella Woolgar as Miss Phipps and Jonathan Harden as The Kaiser.

Ranchi Diaries

Ranchi Diaries is a movie directed and written by Sattwik Mohanty with actors like Soundarya Sharma, Anupam Kher and Jimmy Shergill playing important roles.

The movie narrates the tale of an aspiring model, her friends and her godfather who try to make it big in the small town of Ranchi. Ranchi Diaries depicts the story of Gudiya and her friends who hail from a small town Ranchi. She has the dream of becoming a pop sensation like Shakira. Her talent draws unwanted attention of the local Mafia kingpin Thakur bhaiya and makes her elope with childhood lover Manish. The chain of events cross each other and create a ruckus. To get out of this trouble Gudiya and her friends plan for a bank heist. Their ambitious bank heist becomes the joke of the town when they attempt it. Amidst the chaos between the Goons and the cops whether Gudiya and her friends could make it to the survival, is what the RanchiDiaries all about.

The film has Soundarya Sharma as Gudiya, Anupam Kher as Thakur Bhaiya, Jimmy Shergill as Serious Cop, Satish Kaushik as Corrupt Cop, Himansh Kohli as Manish and Taaha Shah Badusha as Pinku.