I have always had an interest in the Victorian era, and in particular events during the British rule over India, both during the time of The Honourable East India Company, and later, The British Raj.
Bearing this in mind, I was looking forward to seeing an Indian made movie set at the time of “The First War of Independence” in 1857, better known to the British as “The Indian Mutiny”.
The film in question was the colourful historical epic “The Warrior Queen of Jhansi” which I quite enjoyed, and found interesting as my knowledge of the events depicted was ‘limited’ to say the least.
The lavish costumes of the major Indian characters looked authentic. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for the uniforms of the British officers who would, almost certainly, not have been dressed in their expensive tailored dress uniforms, complete with gold bullion epaulettes (see Sir Hugh Rose). When on active service in the heat and dust of India, around that time, they would have looked more like this officer.
One scene rather lets the film down when Queen Victoria is seen in a meeting with her prime minister Lord Palmerston and they seem to have almost immediate news of what is happening in India, although this is a few years before the first telegraph connection between Britain and the subcontinent. During this meeting the queen is attended by her Indian servant who makes comments and offers advice. Yes, the queen’s Muslim servant did attend Victoria at meetings and events, but he didn’t arrive on the scene until ….
…. 30 years later !
bigjohn 
