Mumbai: The trailer of Victoria and Abdul starring Veteran Hollywood actress Judi Dench and Bollywood actor Ali Fazal has been launched.
Victoria and Abdul is a British-American biographical drama film directed by Stephen Frears. Dench plays the role of Queen Victoria who forms an unconventional alliance with an Indian servant, Abdul, played by Fazal.
Talking at the trailer launch of the film here, Ali Fazal said Judi Dench was upset as she could not come to India for the event.
Dench is best known for playing M in several James Bond films apart from her critically acclaimed performances in movies like "Shakespeare in Love", "Mrs Brown", "Notes on a Scandal" and "Philomena".
Asked what her perception about Bollywood films was, Ali said, "Unfortunately (song and dance). We hate that. I told her, that’s not Bollywood. We are much more than that. "But she has been part of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel film and had shot extensively in Rajasthan. She has been to India, she loves India. We spoke a lot about India, food and of course Bollywood."
"We have a far better accent than that. That’s not an Indian accent and everybody understood. I was very adamant about certain words that the western culture doesn’t understand. These are the words and names you can’t pronounce any other way. If you have a point, people listen."
Written by Lee Hall, "Victoria and Abdul" is based on the book of same name by Shrabani Basu. The film also starring Eddie Izzard, Tim Pigott-Smith and Adeel Akhtar, is scheduled to release on September 22.
Watch the trailer here: