Despite the politico-cultural implications this entails, Christopher Lee turns in a towering performance in this sincere tribute to Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan. Set either side of the partition of India, it's a necessarily episodic biopic. But the decision to use a Christmas Carol-like conceit to link the story (in which Lee tours key moments in his life with celestial scholar Shashi Kapoor) is a preposterous miscalculation. Yet, director Jamil Dehlavi co-wrote the factually impeccable screenplay with Cambridge academic Akbar Ahmed. With James Fox stiffly uncomprehending as Mountbatten, this is less effusive, but also less impressive than Gandhi.

Biography of Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the founder of modern Pakistan is told through flashbacks as his soul tries to find eternal rest. The flashbacks start in 1947 as Jinnah pleads for a separate nation for the Muslim minority, infuriating Lord Mountbatten. Mountbatten then tries to enlist Gandhi & Nehru to persuade Jinnah to stop his efforts. Gandhi sides with Jinnah, which upsets Nehru. However, Jinnah turns down the offer to become prime minister and the film takes another slide back to 1916, which reveals all of the political implications that have occurred.