“Viceroy’s House” has found a U.S. home. IFC acquired the U.S. rights to the period drama from “Bend It Like Beckham” director Gurinder Chadha at the Cannes market, The Hollywood Reporter writes. The film is currently playing in the UK, but no word on a U.S. release date yet.
Written by Moira Buffini (“Harlots”) and frequent Chadha collaborator Paul Mayeda Berges, “Viceroy’s House” is set during the 1947 Partition — when India’s independence led to the bloody division of its territory. “Downton Abbey’s” Hugh Bonneville portrays the viceroy, Lord Louis Mountbatten, and Gillian Anderson (“The Fall,” “The X-Files”) plays his wife, Lady Edwina Mountbatten. Michael Gambon (“Harry Potter” franchise), Simon Callow (“Outlander”), Manish Dayal (“Halt and Catch Fire”), Huma Qureshi (“Jolly LLB 2”), and Om Puri (“The Hundred-Foot Journey”) round out the rest of the cast. The film made its world premiere at the Berlinale in February.
“Bhaji on the Beach,” “Bride & Prejudice,” and “Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging” are among Chadha’s directing credits. Next, she will helm the WWII-set “Song for a Spy.” Penned by Farrukh Dhondy (“Exitz”), the film is set in France and Germany and centers on a female Indian spy.
Chadha is also developing projects for TV via her production company, Bend It TV. She has said she is interested in “great content that is effortlessly diverse” — no matter the medium. “My brand has always had a global reach and represents British storytelling, but from a diverse perspective,” she explained. Chadha recently donated her entire working archive to the British Film Institute’s National Archive.
