Hugh Bonneville, Manish Dayal and Gillian Anderson have started production in Jodhpur, India on director Gurinder Chadha’s “Viceroy’s House.” The “Downton Abbey” and “Hannibal” stars play Lord and Lady Mountbatten in the film which will shoot in Jodhpur for eight weeks after commencing on Sunday (Aug. 30).

Set in 1947 it sees Bonneville’s Lord Mountbatten assuming the post of last Viceroy, charged with handing India back to its people, living upstairs at the house which was the home of British rules of India, while 500 Hindu, Muslim and Sikh servants live downstairs. Against this turbulent backdrop, the personal and political become deeply entwined and a decision was taken that continues to reverberate through history.

Chadha directs from a script written in collaboration with Paul Mayeda Berges and Moira Buffini. Dayal leads the Indian and Pakistani cast, which also includes Huma Qureshi, Tanveer Ghani, Denzil Smith, Neeraj Kabi and Om Puri. The cast also includes Lily Travers, Michael Gambon and Simon Callow.

Pathe will release the film in the UK and France and will handle sales throughout the rest of the world. Reliance Entertainment will distribute the film in India.