News about Ali Fazal

With the film industry continuously evolving, some names break boundaries, transcending national boundaries, and etching their indelible mark on the global stage. As he stood next to his Furious 7 costar Vin Diesel while filming the franchise's 10th film at Rome's historic Colosseum in May, Ali Fazal, actor and director, proved he was one of these trailblazers. And there was another reason for the world to pay attention to this actor, who hails from Lucknow and Dehradun, India.

The cottage was once the home of Queen Victoria's faithful Indian manservant Abdul Karim. Their friendship was notably turned into the 2017 film Victoria & Abdul, with Judi Dench as the monarch and Ali Fazal as Karim. Karim, also known as the 'teacher,' wielded a large following over Queen Victoria, causing a rift among many of her aides and family members. The two met in 1887, the year of the Queen's Golden Jubilee, when the monarch, then 68, had been Empress of India for ten years. Karim soon began teaching his Hindustani, which is how he got his nickname, and the two became close, with the Queen referring to him as 'Your loving mother.' Karim was ordered to leave and was then exiled back to India when the Queen died in 1901. The son of Victoria's Edward VII, King Edward VII, ordered that the pair's correspondence be burnt. Karim with Victoria (left) and Fred Frogmore in 1893 (bottom right); the estate was abandoned earlier this year by the Palace, but the cottage has since been restored (inset bottom left).