The Far Pavilions

I agree with the previous comment. When the miniseries aired, I was dating an Indian girl, and with her whole family we would watch every episode. I read the book years later, and was impressed at how accurately the miniseries followed the book. When it came out on video, it had been years since I saw the original, but I knew something was missing. I hope it is re-released in its entire length.

While it is hard to believe Amy Irving as an Indian princess, the acting is superb, the sets are magnificent and the camera work captures it all. This set a standard for TV-miniseries that has never been equaled.

This mini series was an unexpected eye candy one summer, for the lazy Sunday afternoons when we didn't expect something special to be broadcasted.

I was fascinated with the fairytale-like story and the wind of adventure blown into it. Amy Irving was (as always) likable but I found Ben Cross too stoic and a bit cold. Omar Sharif brought an air of nobleness to an otherwise cruel environment.

The most breathtaking scene was the suttee ceremony that haunted me for weeks after. Even though I know now that some women did it voluntary, it is the cruelest custom I ever heard...

This miniseries came hot on the heels of 'The Jewel in the Crown', 'A Passage to India' and a fascination with all things Indian.

Ash (played by Ben Cross, best known for 'Chariots of Fire') and Wally (played by Benedict Taylor, who had featured in children's TV series 'Barriers') were the main players in this drama. Ash had been brought up to think of himself as Indian rather than officer class, and so falls in love with the sultry Anjuli (played by Amy Irving, at that time I think Mrs Steven Spielberg).

The other characters are stock faces from the glory days of the British Raj - while big name actors appear in the more adventurous parts (Christopher Lee, Omar Sharif, Rossano Brazzi). Look out for a young Rupert Everett (post-Another Country) in the cast as well.

Bits of the The Far Pavillions will stay in your mind. The futility of war. The ceremony of suttee (the burning of a living widow on her husband's funeral pyre). The forbidden love across castes and classes.

Recently revitalised as a big budget West End musical, The Far Pavillions is well worth your time. Brilliantly cast, scripted, and directed, it was a definite plus point of 1980s British TV.

Someday, a distributor will make the complete miniseries available for the consumer. Any release of about 300 minutes has about 2 or 3 episodes cut from the original. The opening scenes of the current releases showing flashes of Ash's youth are pieces of these episodes which have been dropped since they would be considered nothing more than superfluous exposition to most Western viewers. But in order to fully appreciate M.M Kaye's story, they are vital and should be restored. These lost episodes impress the viewer with the customs of India, the background of Ash and Anjuli, the treachery of Biju Ram, the love of Sita and the wisdom of Koda Dad. Without them you don't really fully appreciate why Ash and Juli are so close, why Ash is torn between two cultures, and his relationship with Gulkote. The exposure to life in an Indian royal court contained in the lost episodes adds so much to the experience. So until you see a release that has a running time of about 400-500 minutes, let the buyer beware -- you are not getting the complete original of the mini-series.

I watched this film as a kid and thought it was excellent. I was living in the Sub-Continent at the time, and thought it portrayed life there very well.

I'm still trying to get ahold of a copy of it to relive the experience once more.