All language subtitles for Indian Summers (PBS) S1E11 Program Xtra 480p BDRIP XviD (moviesbyrizzo)

[music playing]

I can't speak as
to why it's been

so long since we've
had big Indian dramas

on British television.

They've tried.

I think you know the
truth of the matter

is, "The Jewel in the Crown"
was a masterpiece that

was shot 25 years ago.

And the reason
we're doing this now

is because our
writer, Paul Rutman,

had a particular take on that
world that was very, very

different and was unique.

Just the concept is
just stellar, I think.

I've done quite a few
period dramas by now,

and I think this is the most
intriguing concepts, the most

interesting period of time.

Fascinated by the period, by
the writing, by the characters

were so interesting,
all of them.

He wanted to tell the story
of how a nation ultimately

got its independence
from the British

as well as telling a
personal story within that.

So I think it's sort of
serendipity in a way.

It's everything I
think really stems

from a writer's vision in
television, and a writer's

passion and a writer having
an original take on the world.

And that's what I think
Paul Rutman has and has

created in "Indian Summers."

[music playing]

The central issue,
there are two families--

one Indian and one British.

The Whelans are our
core British family.

And they're represented
by Alice and Ralph,

brother and sister
reunited together

for the first time
since childhood.

Their parents, as far as
we understand it, are dead.

Ralph has a mother
figure in Cynthia,

the lady who runs the
club, and if you like

a father figure in the viceroy.

The Dalals on the other
hand are a Parsi family,

who are just making due.

They're in India because
they were born here.

Their family grew
up here in Bombay.

And in a way, they're a much
more domestic environment

for the show to go to.

We have the father and
mother, Darius and Roshana.

And they bring with
them their three kids.

And because they're close
knit, Aafrin takes his family

with them and they
all live together

in fairly huddled circumstances
in the Indian bazaar.

They're, for me, a center
for warmth in the show.

They're more human, more
humorous place for us to visit.

And, in a way I think they're
a counterpoint to the Whelans

who have plenty of warmth,
but are also shot through

with secrets.

I am hereto work.

To work?

And why are they here?

To rule.

For me, one, one of the
most interesting things

is the British out here,
out of their comfort zone

and trying to create
little England here.

And what was happening
at that time,

politically, the
whole thing I think

is the most fascinating thing.

And of course within it
are the love affairs.

And they are, of course,
personal relationships

are always fascinating.

But with this background,
and this [inaudible]

Even, it's very, very intense.

You are on form tonight.

It's putting that very British
world of the 1920s, 1930s

on screen, which we
have seen in various--

but then putting
it in this world,

it's like lifting them and
putting them on another planet.

They're just, they're
so uncomfortable here

and they desperately
cling onto the things that

worked for them in England.

[music playing]

The first time I
read the script,

I remember being completely
blown away by the scope.

That first shot, which is the
train and the way Paul writes

it and the images that he
clearly had in his head

were so vivid that
I saw them as well.

We all, we all had this
conversation actually

when we met for the
first time about how

strong the storytelling was.

And it's great when you get
that kind of ambition married

with really good writing cause
often you get, you get one

without the other.

And I just felt with
this, it was-- I read it

and thought yes, of course, this
is the time to tell this story.

Ladies and gentlemen,
members and guests,

welcome to our little club
and welcome to the Sipi Fair.

Wonderful thing it is to
be able to take pleasure

in each other's cultures.

I think Cynthia
is a character who

goes to the heart of the
British experience in India.

On the one hand, she's
like a figurehead

for the imperial experience.

But she's also ferocious, dark,
as challenging and at times

cruel as she is charismatic.

And as for the rest of
you-- cheats, adulterers,

slaves of empire here to
rule this great nation

for another glorious
six months--

I want no moaning
about my milk punch.

We knew that we needed
an actress who would not

lose the audience, who would
take the audience with her

into some fairly dark places.

And we were thrilled
with the idea

of trying to get Julie Walters
to play that part because we

knew that she had that
combination of charm,

and strength, and ferocity
that Cynthia needs.

Um, and so when she
read the scripts

and was willing to meet, I
was absolutely beside myself

with excitement.

And the fact that she's come
in and delivered in the way

that she has obviously been
I think, incredible for me,

incredible for the show.

I think it's also fair to
say she's been incredible

for a lot of the younger
actors as an example

of the commitment,
the preparation she

does, and the power of
delivery from take to take.

I certainly think that Cynthia
is a very powerful person.

I mean, to think she has a
Machiavellian personality,

and so she's going to
control whatever environment

she's in if she possibly can.

So I think she's also um, a
great stickler for everything

British.

Thank god this is
only once a year.

Come on, let's get on with it.

So, 150 fruit scones,
150 plain scones,

150 rounds of sandwiches, all
in time for the Sipi Fair.

The challenge of
recreating afternoon tea

at Claridge's, only
serving it in the outliers.

The thing that attracted
me very much to the script

is not just the
period-- which it does.

I love that period in history--
but is her extremely complex

relationship with Ralph.

I mean, it's kind of mother,
son, and it kind of isn't.

And it's very controlling,
and she lives through him.

And it's just really,
really interesting.

And we've had, especially
towards the end of it--

all through, I mean the very,
in the very first episode,

there's a scene where he
throws her up against the wall

and you know, because she's
trying to control him over.

But she still comes out on
top as it were with that.

And that's that
little scene made

me want to do the-- before
I read anything else, that

made me want to do it.

It's just, it was
brilliantly written,

and it's very, very interesting.

You immediately go what
are these two about?

It just draws you in.

And as it goes on, and
it gets more and more

intense as their
paths, the two of them

slightly are going and pulling
in different directions.

And so it becomes more
intense and more upsetting.

And yes, we've had a
couple of huge scenes,

Henry and I together
and it's great

that they're at the end of it.

Because we've grown to
know one another as actors

and grown to know
our characters.

We're more in tune
with our characters.

And they were amazing
to do because they're

fabulously written
and complex and there

is all sorts going on in them.

Meet fire with fire until Mr.
Gandhi and the rest of Congress

are subdued.

Too strong?

Because I rely on
you to reign me

in if I'm being too tiresome.

Not at all.

Fire with fire,
just what they need.

With Ralph Whelan
I really wanted

to write a charming,
recognizable young Englishman

caught at a moment in history
who was, by his own lights,

trying to do the
right thing, uh,

but is on the
wrong side history.

So he's a difficult
character in that way

because he does and says things
that we don't like to hear,

but it's important that his
good intentions, however

far he strays from them
are always in our minds.

And when we met Henry
Lloyd-Hughes, when he read

for us, he has charm in spades.

He's a tremendously
talented young actor

who can be emotional, funny, has
a great internal energy to him,

and was absolutely magnetic
from the moment we first

saw him read.

Well, there's an actress
called Laura Carmichael,

who is in "Downton Abbey."

And I was doing a film, and
she was also doing the film,

and she heard me read the lines.

And I was really
busy with the film,

and she said I strongly urge
you to put yourself on tape

and send this tape.

I was like, Laura I
want to, I want to.

And she was like, no,
you have to do it.

And she kind of sat me down and
we did it right there and then.

And as I was doing
it, in the process

I realized that-- there's
this strange thing that

happens where you feel
the words sound good

coming out of your mouth.

Does that make sense?

And obviously it's a very,
very interconnected plot.

So with all these things, you're
finding out a little bit more

about the character.

But right from the get go,
my impulse, it felt right,

felt like a really
interesting fit.

And the closer I got,
the more I liked.

And it's not always that way.

It's not always that
exact combination of,

as the layers reveal
themselves, you

go wow, that makes
it more interesting.

That makes it
something, even more

of a challenge and even more
of a slightly complicated

concoction.

I didn't know what to expect
the first time I met Henry.

And I'm very lucky
that we get on

as well as we do because we've
got so much to do together.

He is so enthusiastic about
everything, which is great

because it's good to
have someone like that,

with that energy on set.

Well, that is good news.

Do you have a name?

Yes.

I have the details
with me right here.

[Slams]

Hmm.

Hmm.

[phone ringing]

Well, yeah, I have so much
to do on screen with Nikesh.

It seemed preposterous not to
spend as much time with him.

He was the only actor that
I actually saw extensively

before we even left.

So I've had many, many
hours getting to know him

and he's such a kind of
amazingly capable, hearty,

thigh slapping guy that he's
exactly the kind of person

that you would want to go off
and do any kind of adventure

with, regardless of acting,
you know what I mean?

He's got just like bags of
experience and intelligence

and application.

Aafrin is a tough
character to play

because unlike a lot of
the British characters,

he is less active.

He's someone who is just
getting by and trying

to do right by his family.

Things happen to
him which are bigger

than he can at first
control And he acts in ways

that he can't always
understand at the time.

Um, what Nikesh brings is
a sensitivity, I think,

and a gentleness,
a diffidence which

really feels right
for Aafrin And he's

brought that character to life.

He gives him a warmth that
really makes us, the viewer,

want to go with him,
want to follow him

through a story that takes
a lot of twists and turns.

No, it's a British club.

Please, I have to speak
to the private secretary.

Stand down Vinod.

That'll do.

Dalal.

Letter sir, awaiting
your signature.

Hmm.

You found it all right?

Yes sir.

In the end,

Alice Whelan's story is very
tricky for an actress to play.

She's someone who, like
a lot of her generation,

with that India experience,
grew up in India,

was sent home to boarding school
at a very young age-- home

being England-- had
a horrible time,

and has come running
back to India in her 20s.

She's a character who doesn't
know where she's from.

She doesn't know what home is.

She doesn't know if
she is based in England

or in London or in India.

But she has an idea
that Simla is her home.

Jemima has tremendous
warmth and, as an actress,

she brings a huge amount of
emotion, of wit, of fluidity

to her performance.

I think she's a
character with Jemima

who we can fall in love with.

I think there's
something about the fact

that Jemima is an
English woman who grew up

in Paris, that perhaps gives
her a certain otherness,

a certain statelessness.

She doesn't know quite
where she's from.

And it's possible that she
carries a little bit of that

into her performance.

So more than anyone
who read for us, she

seemed to just put her finger
on that statelessness of Alice,

that sense of where
do I come from?

But she also has that
tremendous warmth,

and heart, which I think
is absolutely critical

to get Alice right.

And what brings you
to the summer capital?

Oh, just visiting.

It's not quite decided yet?

And will little man's
papa be joining you?

Sorry?

Some dashing young [inaudible].

I can just see it
with your figure.

And you'll excuse me.

[music playing]

Look.

She left her hat.

When Alice arrives-- the
wonderful Jemima West-- it,

is a huge new opportunity for
Sarah to make a new friend,

but also to get into the society
that she really wants to be in.

Not just because she wants to
be higher than she is, but also

she wants to be at the parties.

She wants to go to the balls.

She wants to be part of
it, part of the community.

I know.

I have a fancy you
and I are going

to be the very best of
friends, don't you think?

Sarah doesn't work out.

She doesn't really understand
what's coming back at her.

So she does believe that
there's a friendship there,

with herself and Alice.

And she thinks that, from the
initial meeting of when she's

not quite sure who she is and
she's a bit interested to see

where the babies come from,
to realizing who she is

and-- and the first few
conversations, I don't know,

are possibly terrifying
from Alice's point of view.

From Sarah's point of view, it's
actually forging a friendship

and deciding that
this person is going

to be her friend
is enough for Sarah

because she doesn't
really have friends

and doesn't really know
how to go about it.

And it changes her whole
dynamic because all of a sudden,

there is a friend in
this friendless world.

[music playing]

Am I?

Don't look.

Poor things come out without
a pair of gloves to cool her.

You all right?

You look white as a sheet.

That woman is wearing my dress.

Excuse me.

Excuse me.

Where did you get that?

That is my dress.

Christ.

She must have given it
to the dhobi for washing.

What?

Well, they have a little
habit of subletting the best

outfits for the weekend.

Get your [inaudible]

Ah, dinner.

How Jolly.

Yeah, me and Olivia.

It's always a risk
when you've obviously,

when you first
meet other actors.

What the chemistry
is going to be like,

how you're going to get on.

And thankfully me
and Olivia seem

to get on like a house
on fire off camera

as well she makes me laugh and I
hope, I think I make her laugh.

She certainly seems to laugh at
this stuff, this silly, stupid

stuff I'm saying half the time.

There is a special
thing between um--

whether that's because we're
playing brother and sister.

Um, yeah, there's
a slight, there's

a deeper bond between us anyway.

My sister, Madeleine.

God knows we don't get
to choose our families.

Where are we going?

It's the first
night of the season.

The club, where else?

Alice, I'm Madeleine.

Yes, she knows.

You are even
prettier than he said.

Who?

Well, your brother of course.

I think this has got to feel
like one of her last chances.

And I think that's why she
puts so much energy into it

and gives him so many chances,
because he's you know,

he's not an easy nut
to crack, essentially.

[door slams]

So I got your note.

I was beginning to
think you'd never ask.

I think to give
the story energy,

I think it needs to
be that, you know,

she feels that this might be
her last chance of you know,

avoiding singledom and
spinsterhood which, you know,

had a real-- I mean,
she's meant to be sort

of lying about her age already.

I mean, I think she's sort of
playing on hopefully her more

youthful looks to try and snare
someone before things droop.

[laughter]

[music playing]

I believe it's called
the grizzly bear.

Really?

You still do that.

They do in this antique land.

Well, they're
doing it all wrong.

Hey.

What?

No self pity.

Cardinal sin, remember.

I remember.

On your feet, Saul.

[inaudible]

--[inaudible] sexy dance
called the grizzly bear.

So step, hop, skip, hop,
then back, and go rawr.

This is all for your benefit.

You do see that, don't you?

One of the strange things
about empire was actually

there were quite a lot
of Scots who came out.

Quite a bit of
Irish who came out,

quite a bit of
Welsh who came out.

And you could almost
say-- and I guess

I'm trying to say-- that
one of the things that

kept the Union together,
one of the things that

kept Britain together um,
uh was this idea of empire.

That actually, a young Scotsman
could go out and make something

of himself in India or Burma.

Armitage!

Look, that, that's me.

You're in tea?

Oh well, I am now.

That's my uncle's business.

You uncle?

Stafford Armitage?

Aye!

Do you know him?

So I guess when
Ian gets there, he--

brown eyed and bushy
tailed, sort of wants

to get to know the British
establishment in [inaudible].

So he comes across sort
of everyone really.

I mean, the first
episode, basically,

he's trying to find his uncle.

He really is the most
excellent fellow, mostly

in the morning between the
hours of 9:00 and 11:00.

[snoring]

Oh Christ.

Ralph kind of takes him
under his wing a little bit

when he finds out that
he's a good rider.

Ian's a brilliant horse rider
and there's a [inaudible]

Scene, which Ian actually wins.

And I think that
sort of propels him

into the club more than just
who's this guy sort of thing,

you know?

He becomes part of the
scene and has a little drink

and they have a party in there.

And uh, also because Cynthia,
Julie Walter's character

is quite fond of Stanford
Armitage, Ian's uncle.

She kind of takes
him under his wing

as the story goes
on as well and wants

to sort of teach him the
ropes of how to act in India.

But Ian kind of wasn't expecting
to be told to act in a way

that he is expected to
as a British, um, person.

And he starts to
rub up against that.

And I think that's when.
as the tipping point

for Ian as the
person that he wanted

to be in India and the
person that he kind of wants

to be after he realizes
the reality of it.

Imperial India, British
India had many aspects.

Sure, there was
the political side,

but there was also
the business side.

A lot of people went out there
and made money on the railways

or in [inaudible] or
cotton or growing tea.

And I think it's
interesting to have

a story in the mix
about a Scotsman

who tries to run a business
and who finds himself

in conflict with a local
Indian businessman.

And in many ways, that's
an omen of things to come.

That's even better than
you said in your letters.

Well, I'm no one to brag.

And this land is all yours?

No, no, other fellow
owns this stretch.

Was he at the club?

Good god I should hope not, no.

No, he's a local chap uh.

Local?

Native.

Really?

They can do that.

Oh, they do as they
please nowadays.

The Dalal parents--
Darius and Roshana.

We've got Roshan Seth
is playing Darius

and Lillete Dubey
is playing Roshana.

And they're two wonderful ,
actors from India living in ,

Mumbai and Roshan's
coming from New Delhi.

And for all of
us, and for me, it

felt important that we have
Indiana actors, not just

British Asians in the mix.

Not just Malaysian
Indians in the mix.

To give, I think, to ground the
show, to give it authenticity.

And they've certainly
brought that.

I think they bring a reality
and warmth of feeling

to that Indian family.

As soon as we step
into their home,

this is a family and a house
that we can believe in.

And I think a lot
of it is because

of what they bring to that.

Anyway, there's no point
unpacking everything

when we don't know
what's happening, huh.

Just because a
few Britishes are

afraid of the sun,
why we all have

to march up to the
top of the hill

like the grand old Duke of York.

It's because your
brother here--

Pappy, I don't need
you to defend me.

Your brother, the
esteemed junior clerk

is compelled to come.

You should say no.

Then what huh?

Your mommy's too old
to beg in the street.

You sister is too pretty and--

Your daddy is too blind.

So funny.

So my character
is a bit of a geek.

She's always reading a book.

So she's kind of always
sitting in a corner somewhere

or she kind of just gets in
the way a bit of everyone.

And my brothers and
sisters are always

running around everywhere.

My mum's always cooking.

So we're all just really
busy doing different things.

When I set about trying
to write an Indian family

at first, I thought a lot about
who they should be and what,

cultural background
they should come from.

And it struck me
that the Parsis are

a very interesting community
particularly at that point.

They were a community that did
very well under the British.

They were a small
community, even then.

And they had very ambivalent
feelings about the British.

On the one hand,
they were some, uh,

quite powerful pro-independence
figures amongst them.

On the other hand, they
were fearful of what

would happen to them
once the British left,

and they felt that the British
were a sheltering presence.

I think there's a feeling
of energy about the show.

Afeeling of something dying.

And the Whelans as a family
are afraid for their future.

And when I look at
the Parsis, I think

I'm right in saying that they
can no longer even be classed

as a community in India, because
their numbers have dropped off.

They're now considered a tribe.

And in a sense,
they're a community

that is if not quite
dying, then endangered.

And so in a way, I think that
the Dalals and the Whelans

are two families who are
fighting for their future,

they're fighting
for their lives.

They have more in common with
each other, than they realize.

And I think they both have
more complicated attitudes

to the politics of the day
than might at first appear.

Also the Parsis spoke English,
which is quite useful for us.

And it just seemed
like an opportunity

to come shine a spotlight on
this slightly under explored

part of India.

This is it.

This is it.

This is why.

This is it in action, the
British sense of fair play.

[laughter]

[Shout]

Sometimes when
we do our scenes,

Roshan and I always,
often feel that, you know,

these lines are too clean.

Indians don't talk like that.

They tend to talk over
each other, overlap more,

and you know.

So, which makes it real as well.

I know it's very difficult
for the sound people,

but it's how they talk.

They don't wait, they're
not polite like the English.

They won't wait for someone
to complete something.

If they have something to
say, they just say it over.

So I really like
the representation

because I think
they're very fair

and they have their foibles
and Darius has his weaknesses,

you know, for the English.

And she's very naive,
doesn't know much.

Because that's how she would be.

And yet, she's a very
strong-minded woman,

within the confines of her home.

She's a little naive which
makes her very endearing,

but she's also very much
the woman of the house.

And she controls things
as well as her husband.

It's a lovely mix.

It's a lovely mix
of being rooted

in where we are in our culture.

And yet, you can see where
these kids are going to go.

You know, we let
them-- we get upset

when they're getting
too independent,

but we've allowed them.

We've brought them up like that.

Which is how it should
see be, I think, you know.

How it is even today, that makes
it very contemporary actually.

I really, really wanted this
to look period, India wise.

Which sounds ridiculous,
but of course,

today, India like
any other country,

there is a huge proponent
towards polyester.

Anything that's easy to
wash and easy to dry.

Fortunately, India still has a
thing called the [inaudible],

which is government run.

Where, which are basically
workshops for villagers

to sell their wares.

So we're talking about hand
loomed fabrics, which has

been going on for a long time.

And they are as near
to what you would

you would have gotten in 1930s
as you could now get today.

So in fact we imported most of
the clothes from [inaudible].

All the traditional stuff,
which is Dhotis and [inaudible]

And undershirts and , and we
imported those from Mumbai.

Thank God, they still do
them and it looks great.

The Indian women stuff we
tended to find here in Penang.

And we're fortunate enough to
find a shop that had old stock.

And it had wood block
prints, lot of cotton.

I've kept away from the
silks unless the people were

very, very rich, which
also have the added

benefit of looking broken down
the minute you put them on.

Just like the men's
suits, which we've

used natural-- and the
European men's suits,

we've used natural fibers.

So it's cottons
and linens, again,

to give you that crumpled
look because you,

we know what it's like being
in this humidity and this heat.

Your clothes look
fabulous for five minutes

after you step out
of your front door.

And then for the rest of the
day, you're hanging in rags.

And I really wanted to get
that across on this film,

and I think and
hope we've done it.

[music playing]

--[inaudible] Is that
her do you think?

The club, certainly,
this is the one place

where we see
Cynthia's rule of iron

as far as dress code
and general appearance.

So having established
the early '30s look, ,

the next thing was to make it
look as though it was real.

And slightly more
difficult was trying

to make it look a little
bit like most of it

was made in India, which
of course it would've been.

Very few people had the money
to import their clothing

from Europe.

So, that was a
challenge, , and in fact,

worked brilliantly well simply
because we managed to find

the people here who could copy
but of course, the copying,

you always get a slight
sort of variation on a theme

by copying, which is
exactly what I wanted.

And so therefore, I
think it looks very real.

So the thing about the
club is that we have,

sundowners if you like.

So during the day,
anybody went to the club,

and they wore
normal day clothes.

And then in the
evening, dress code

was, if you had it-- because
this is what everybody did

at home-- you wore white tie.

And we were on a cusp here
, because in fact, by 1936,

dinnerjackets were
much more common.

And black tie, as
opposed to white tie,

brought in by the Prince
of Wales, particularly.

And he was one of
the first people

to wear black tie when
white tie de rigueur

and caused a scandal.

But of course, as
these things always do,

it filtered down through
the market very quickly

and everybody took it up
because it was more comfortable.

Soft collars, still bloody
bow ties, but soft collars.

And , just easier,
easier clothing.

We talked about
various ways of,

of making this level of
smartness and uprightness

not looking starchy
and not looking staid.

And it just sort of
helps that, obviously

makes a great designer,
but also the '30s

has such a kind of flamboyance
in a way, in a way.

You know it's, a lot of,
you know, all of the clothes

are making statements.

That's what great, it's
what's so great for costumes.

It's that you, even in
quite a stuff landscape,

there's something debonair
about all of the characters.

But particularly.

And it was actually
Anand who then took us

into a further place
which was this concept

of the black and
white and two worlds.

And undulating between the two.

I haven't done my scenes
in Indian costumes yet.

So I can't wait.

Hungry?

Yeah.

Keep it to myself.

I don't think much of
the food of the club.

Yeah.

Except the Yorkshire pud.

Naturally.

Nick's amazing, and he
had a very strong idea

that he was going to make
everything out in Malaysia.

And so there was very much
a sense from the costume

that you see of the
other characters

that it's copied from "Vogue."

And so it doesn't have--
and I think that's, that's

how it would have
looked at the time.

People would've taken
ripped out pages

from sort of American
and British publications

and been like, please
can you make this.

And Madeline very much wasn't
one of those characters.

And, you know, basically
there's-- we've sort of moved

together kind of two images.

Because I think there's been
a sort of image of Madeline

which-- basically I wanted
her to be sort of-- I

wanted her sort of sexuality
to be sort of expressed

in the clothes.

But I think in my mind, I had
her as slightly overly sexual

perhaps.

And what I love
about what he's done

is he's created her as
incredibly elegant and quite

strikingly American I think,
in quite a sort of modern way,

hopefully.

Um I think in my
first email to him,

I was like, I just see her
in sort of pinks and beiges

and her clothes all sort
of kind of falling off.

Which isn't actually
what he's done,

but I love what he's done.

He's done kind of,
it's more monochrome,

it's more long lines.

Which also sort of shows
sort of to a certain extent

how powerful she is.

Memsahib, everything
is prepared.

So we had this
difficult scenario

where Cynthia is
setting up the opening

of the club for the season.

And Paul had written
into the script

that she is wearing
a boiler suit, which

is absolutely fine for period.

Not normally worn by
women of her background,

but there we are.

But a sensible thing to
wear if you're cleaning up

after a winter of mess of the
club where it hasn't been used.

But then at the
end of the scene,

she has to open it
up and step out of it

and underneath is
an evening dress.

Well, that's not an
easy thing to do.

Um, but I did find an
extraordinary, completely

contemporary fabric
here in Penang

which looks like beading.

It was a deco pattern,
and it was made

of a [inaudible] synthetic.

And I designed the dress so
that it was almost Grecian.

So therefore, it was
just a lot of again,

dropped waist, but a
lot of folded fabrics.

And because this
fabric is plastic,

it, it just falls into shape.

And bless her heart, Julie
got it absolutely right.

She practiced
unzipping, stepping out

of it, whipping it
off, and there she

was in full evening dress.

And it looks wonderful.

[music playing]

Let's get on with it then.

I think the challenge
of the picture

was not being unreliant
on hired goods.

It was knowing we had to
produce every single garment

on the series.

We only imported stiff collars,
braces, men's suspenders,

the things you can't get here.

So the challenge for me really
was getting stuff done in time.

Because we pretty soon after
We started the first block,

we were up here
at the Crag doing

eveningwear-- we were doing--
and having big crowds.

It was actually a
matter of producing

the sheer quantity of costumes.

And I haven't worked
it out yet, but I

know we've made over 500
costumes for this show, which

is pretty amazing.

And most of those were made
in the first three months.

And all made by little
workshops and individual people,

not mass made in factories.

[music playing]

Sumitra! [inaudible].

You know, I mean, that
is England if ever there

was England, the Wisteria
sort of climbing down

the balcony into the veranda
and all that sort of says

all part of that sort of
[inaudible] nostalgia.

I needed to find those quirky,
quirky buildings you know,

designed in the
sort of, designed

in the British style which
really, really characterized

the hill stations in India.

Malaysia shares very much
the same colonial history

as Britain through very
much the same period.

So the buildings and the
life and the atmosphere

are incredibly similar.

You know, one of the great
discoveries of Penang Hill

where we're filming a
lot of this was that,

up here we've got a string
of buildings which were built

by the British during their
imperial days here and which

have been largely untouched.

We had some great finds both
in the club at Crag Hotel

and also in Chotipool
which when we found

it was fairly run down.

But the designer has
restored it to real glory.

And I think there is an
uncanny resemblance between

the architectural style of ,
the locations that we're using

of Chotipool And the kind of
things that were being built

in similar of the time.

There was a lot of
muck to the building

which [inaudible] was very
sniffy about in similar

at the time.

But it has been
caught in aspect here.

So I think it's possible to say
that there is nowhere else that

quite delivers the atmosphere
of the hill station in quite

the way that we
found here in Penang.

I was a little dubious
about duplicating Shimla here

in Penang Hill.

But when I drove around, I said
this could be a lane in Shimla.

Stop here please.

The, the key locations that
were always in my head when I

was scouting around that I
knew, I had to find and I

wasn't going to be able to
build because they required real

scale I suppose were
firstly the British club,

which is run by Julie Walters
and in many ways is the sort

of social centre of our show.

So that was always a really
important location to me.

And when I came
here, it was really

sort of the most exciting day
of the whole adventure in a way.

It was covered in jungle,
but it was clear that it was

a spectacular , location.

--[inaudible] Penang in October
2013, looking for location,

because Charlie had previously
seen, ,with Dan and Paul,

the writer.

And discovered
this fantastic sort

of ex-hotel which we
turned into the club

on the hill, the Crag Hotel
which was really the turning

point on the location
[inaudible] really

which we then we could
actually do it in Penang.

Um, and then other pieces, other
colonial houses on Penang Hill

fell into place.

The first day I arrived
here and saw this location up

on the hill, up on
Penang Hill, I suppose,

I kind of imagined it when I
was, you know, got the script

and was working on it before
it came out and everything.

But it's far more
beautiful and it's stunning

and you, it just so helps.

It's very, very real,
it's the real deal.

And we haven't had anything
like this for I don't how long,

30 years.

And then it was a bit
of location in India.

And then the rest was
done in the studio.

Here, we have this amazing
location on Penang Hill.

People are going to want
to go and stay in that club

when they see this.

It's so divine, you can
see right through it

out into the jungle and
it's just beautiful.

It feels, it's so important
that it feels so real.

Half your job's done.

I walk through there and I
feel like, here I am, you

know, in the Simla,
the Royal Simla Club.

The second location where I
knew we would require scale

and that I couldn't build
was the Viceregal Lodge.

That building is
very, very particular

in Simla and unreproducible,
but what I needed

was a building of
grandeur and scale.

And so the old governor's
mansion in Georgetown

had exactly that.

And was built for exactly the
same purpose as the Viceregal

Lodge in Simla.

So although we've got lots of
, English colonial buildings,

what we haven't got really
was an Indian quarter in,

in Georgetown, in Penang.

It was not a concern, but you
do find yourself wondering OK,

how's that going to work.

And that was completely
dispelled the first time

I walked on set.

Because the first set that we
were filming on was the bazaar,

was the most Indian
of our locations.

So we took a car
park which was in back

of the, of the museum which
has some buildings on it

and created the Indian
quarter-- the Dalal house,

and the bazaar, and the
markets, and some streets

and temples in that car park.

[music playing]

I remember going on
the set with Roshan

and there's a
particular bird-- I

think it's called the coyle--
there's a particular bird that

starts singing.

And he went oh,
that's good, that's,

that's the bird that
wakes me up at home.

And then he looked at the
sound department and said,

you should get that.

And that's when I thought,
OK, this is, things

like that, I mean, the
art department can't

plant the birds in the trees.

We're onto something here.

The bazaar is so, like
I said, so controlling.

So you have to think of it
as a production [inaudible].

So it's so controllable,
and it's got the flavour,

it's got all the
noise and the hustle

and the bustle and the
chaos of an Indian bazaar.

There's always things going on.

Like, there's chickens
running around,

and everyone's running
all over the place.

And it's just really
like chaotic, but like,

controlled chaotic.

I don't know, I kind of like it.

You almost wish that you could
take every single person that's

going to watch it on telly
and take them and go,

this is, just walk through
the Indian quarter.

It's not CGI.

There's a-- I'm staring
at a goat's balls here.

I mean, we've, we've got
just a real sensory overload.

I feel very much
like my house is

on a very busy street with a
lot of pokey, nosy neighbors.

Like this is [inaudible].

BYE bye.

Not yet.

Don't go yet.

Come here [inaudible].

The family home was
just breathtaking.

I walked in and I
kind of had a moment

where I though I think I'm
about to cry at how beautiful

this is.

[crowd noise]

So there's a lot of kind
of bustle of informality,

of people crashing
in and out, which

I think the directors
have realized beautiful.

And that's a big
contrast with what

you find at
Chotipool, the Whelans

home which is much more formal.

There are servants, and
everyone is a little bit more

on their guard, a little
bit more self aware.

So I think, yes, again, I think
the houses and the atmosphere

of the houses reflect on just
the way there is two different

families , functioning.

I think the critical thing
about shooting in real

locations is that , one, we
can get a movement in and out

of buildings.

It's a very natural space
for the actors to inhabit

and really become
, these people.

And what I think it does is it
gives the sense of real people

living real lives
in real places.

And the hope is that will give
the whole show the authenticity

that we've been striving for.

I mean it's a full on
visceral experience.

I feel like I'm really
glad that we're somewhere

that is this foreign to me.

Because that helps.

It helps because it feels other.

It doesn't feel like a
studio on the edge of London.

A cordon sanitaire
around the Indian quarter,

and everyone is to remain
indoors while officers

conduct a search.

30, any paperwork for signing?

N0w's your chance.

I remember doing
that speech when I've

set up the cholera [inaudible].

And all these faces
looking up at me

and trying to make
these clerks wake up

in the, dozing in the heat.

It brought so much
to that scene.

It's not the same doing it
with two guys in front of you.

There was a huge hall,
and, and loads of people.

And I suppose that's one of
the fantastic things that,

production have done is
just brought this scale,

so all of all of
our imaginations--

certainly in my case--
have been expanded.

You know, , it's richer, bigger
than I could have thought

of when you're sitting at home
in London reading a script.

Locations I shoot
at, I'm in the middle

of the jungle in a big,
beautiful, stately house

or a big-- it would be
exactly the same there if we'd

found locations in
India, they would

look no different to this.

In fact, probably not as good.

And this is more authentic.

I wondered why we were shooting
in Malaysia and not in India.

But I can see that this
is absolutely perfect

because it's kind of untouched.

And it's the real thing.

And it must be hard to
find that anywhere else.

And also it's great
being in Penang.

It's fabulous.

I was a little
concerned because

of spending many, many
summer holidays there.

I'm basically from Delhi,
so it's [inaudible].

And , it's very historical.

The capital was there,
it's the summer capital

for so many years.

So I was a little concerned,
but once I came here and I saw--

that's the beauty of all these
, colonial outposts, the towns.

A lot of them, especially like
Penang, which is a little away.

A lot of this
architecture is preserved.

So , and of course I think
the production has done a lot

to restore and preserve
a lot of the things.

In fact, to make it look good.

I think some of the
buildings are nice,

but I think that
a lot of money was

spent in destroying
them as well, which is

great for the country itself.

We've been filming
in Suffolk House which

is the location for
Viceregal Lodge.

Already it's very different to
the bazaar because physically,

the bazaar set occupied
a much smaller space.

Again, that's a testament
to the art department

and what they managed
to do with it.

You turn a corner
and it's so tight,

but it's teeming with life.

But then here, it
opens out a lot more.

And I think that's
reflective, again,

of what it was like to go up to
the-- what it would have been

like to go up to the Viceregal
Lodge and just some easy space.

And before this set I've
also been the location where

we were shooting Gorton Castle
which is kind of more of the,

I guess the nuts and bolts
of the civil service.

Slightly less polish and
slightly more packed.

So in a way, my journey
here has been from home

to my workplace at
the start of the show

before the events of
episode one really kick off.

And then suddenly
I'm a complete fish

out of water in this place.

And I think it's really
nice to open up that space.

And I think that
will carry on when

we get to other
locations like Chotipool

and the Crag where
Cynthia's clubhouse is.

Chotipool was, in a way,
the most difficult location

to find.

Chotipool is Ralph
and Alice's house.

It provides the sort of
emotional center of the house.

It's a sort of
Eden, a fantasy, ,

and was the lost
location that we found.

We'd almost landed on
buildings that, you know,

on reflection
weren't quite right.

They either had the scale, but
they didn't have the romance.

Or they have
extraordinary interiors,

but were unshootable in.

And right at the last moment,
I was taken to a house that we

had to fight through
jungle to get to, ,

that had been uninhabited I
think probably for about 2O

or 3O years.

It was completely overgrown,
pretty inaccessible.

And I was shown it by
the designer Rob Harris

with a pretty heavy heart.

It seemed to be fairly clear
he didn't want me to choose it.

So , however, you know, after
about two or three hours

thought, we sort of went back
and both of us looked at it

and looked at each other.

And you were with
me Dan as well.

And it became apparent
that with a lot of work

and a lot of clearing and
renovation, that actually,

it was the perfect location.

It was isolated,
it was romantic,

it was on the top of the hill.

And that , we should
be ambitious ,

and choose it despite all
the logistical difficulties

and design difficulties that
it was going to throw at us.

And I think it was
the right decision.

Going up to
Chotipool and granted,

we were still at the stage
where the flower beds were being

dug for the first time to,
to create something that

had never been made before.

And it took my breath
away, just the enormity

of what was going on.

I mean, the same with
the club as well.

I mean, it's a whole complex
of beautiful old buildings

that are being
taken and elevated

to a level which is like almost
beyond what they were when they

were first built. I
mean, it's extraordinary,

absolutely extraordinary
undertaking.

And to think, at any stage when
we're down here, attempting

something, somewhere up there,
they're erecting a chandelier

or doing some huge undertaking.

It's extraordinary, just
the scale and detail

of all of this.

And the challenges to make
the level of commitment,

the performances match that.

I loved Paul's writing
when I first read it.

I loved the-- I had the first
three episodes I think came.

And, I just found
it-- it's fascinating,

and it's the kind of writing
that comes in and goes out

rather than how do
I make this work?

You know, it's
very real, and easy

to make conversational,
which is really important.

Paul's writing was vivid
and funny, and dark.

And all of the characters
had something to say.

And none of them shied away
from being interesting.

It's difficult. It's difficult
with so many characters

to make them all rounded,
to have them well

edged, to have their own
graphs, their own stories,

uh, which of course
are all interconnected.

But to do that is not easy.

Everything is in
Paul Rutman's head

is why I realized when we, I
remember, Aysha and I asking

him a question
about a plot thread

that we'd only read
up to a certain point

and there was a plot
thread dangling there.

So I don't want to give it away.

But I said, we asked him,
what happens with this thing.

And he just kind of looked
and went, what do you

think happens with this thing?

And then he told us, and
it was completely brilliant

and nothing like what
I would have expected.

I suppose one of the
hard things for me feeling

my way into the show was
to ask the question, you

know, what were we doing there?

What did we think
we were doing there?

It strikes me as interesting
that so many younger people

have no notion of
what the empire was.

We've done a very good job
of sweeping the entire empire

experience under the carpet.

I think for my
grandparents' generation, ,

it was for many people, it was
a huge part of their lives.

For thousands of people, it
was an extraordinary, formative

experience that touched them
and changed them, and changed

the sense of how they
felt about themselves

and how they felt
about their country.

But we have done an
extraordinary job

of excising that from history.

[music playing]

To the King-Emperor!

When you say uh, when
they call out King Emperor.

I mean, they didn't make
Victoria emperor of uh,

made her specifically
the empress of India.

,And it's well you know,
the jewel in the crown.

India was very
much the possession

that Britain was most proud of.

I supposed it's
like the 0thers--

Canada, Australia-- they sort
of didn't feel like possessions.

They were part of us because
of the, the racial makeup

of Australia and
Canada was very much

of the old white, British stock.

And India was this
amazing clash of cultures,

and a synthesis of
cultures it has to be said.

It wasn't, it wasn't
always harmonious,

and often it was
very, very violent.

But it is, at the very least,
an extraordinary synthesis,

which is, we have made our
mark on India for a good while.

On the left, , people feel
it's a shameful episode,

that we have to
castigate ourselves over.

On the right, people
feel, I think,

a sneaking pride for the
work that we did there.

For the fact that
this tiny island

was capable of ruling
half the world.

I think there's a
middle point which

we've tried to course,
which is simply to ask,

on a very human level, what did
we think we were doing there?

What did we think we
were doing in India?

What did our grandparents
imagine we were getting up to?

Hello love.

So many people of
that generation,

when I talk to them
about what I'm doing,

the first thing they say
is, we did a lot of good.

We did a lot of good out there.

And I think there is a
rather kind of defensive,

rather vulnerable story
about good intentions, ,

about disastrous blunders, and
about an improvised constantly

changing effort to stay on, to
stop this dream from ending.

Even after people
back home in Britain

had got rather tired of,
of the empire project,

there was a cadre
of people in India

and other countries who were
determined to hang onto a life

that they loved, to a home that
they loved and couldn't imagine

any other way of living.

And in a way, "lndian
Summers" is the story

of a group of people trying
not to let go of a home uh,

that they'd grown up in.

[music playing]

As you may have heard, this
year's summer administration

got off to a bumpy start.

The man who tried to shoot
you, do they know his name?

As I said, the man won't speak.

Lucky for you, in
bumping into that bullet--

Yes.

Not so lucky for him.

A man tried to kill
you [inaudible].

And now Mr Dalal
and I are required

to help you cover something up.

So, this summer we
have to show the world

we're committed to reform.

One day, who knows,
Indians might be raised up

to run their own affairs.

King-Emperor.

ALL: King Emperor.

Ladies and gentlemen.

Welcome to the Sipi Fair.

No entry into the interior.

I'll double lock the
doors from inside.

I find myself this
morning wondering

if you'd ever had any
interest in joining the higher

ranks of the civil service?

Head clerk?

There was an
incident yesterday.

We demand full independence.

My sister Sooni,
she was arrested.

[inaudible] you can't do this.

This is how it is.

One thing is given to you.

Another one is taken away.

Wake up Aafrin!

Look at the role
you've been cast in.

Marvelous Mr Dalal
who threw himself

into the path of a bullet.

Esteemed servant of the empire,
loyal Indian of the hill.

Soon“.

Wake up Aafrin!

I will get you out, I promise.

[music playing]

I won't be taken for a fool,
If that's what you think

is happening, which I
have no doubt you do,

then you're very much mistaken.

What if I want you to myself?

He's in love.

So are you.

I though you'd be pleased.

I thought you'd be
pleased to see me.

I have heard of British men
who take Indian wives, but never

the other way around.

What are your intentions,
because Madeline

is a high prize.

All these people.

What about them?

Do you even know them?

[gunshofl

[scream]

You came!

That's my house.

All I ask is that
our son should

live the life that is for him.

[crying]

You're all I've got.

Yes.

Harry, I, I--

Shall we?