The Man Who Would Be King 1975

In 1885 India, a journalist named Rudyard Kipling finds himself confronted by a scruffy derelict who turns out to be his old acquaintance, Peachy Carnehan. Carnehan recounts his past adventures alongside his comrade, Danny Dravot, with whom he had shared many escapades when they were ex-sergeants in the British Army.

Three years back, Carnehan and Dravot had encountered Kipling after they swiped his pocket-watch. Upon discovering a masonic tag on it, Carnehan felt compelled to return it to a fellow Freemason. Their initial scheme involved blackmailing a local raja, which Kipling thwarted by having the British district commissioner intervene. Later, Carnehan turned the tables by blackmailing the commissioner to escape deportation.

With a growing frustration over the lack of lucrative criminal ventures in a civilized India, which offered little but dull, underpaid jobs back in the UK, the duo approaches Kipling with a daring plan. They decide to abandon India, taking along twenty rifles and ammunition to venture into Kafiristan, a region that remained largely unexplored by Europeans since the time of Alexander the Great. Their intention is to forge a bond with a local ruler, help him conquer neighboring lands, then betray him and seize the treasure. Though Kipling initially tries to dissuade them, he presents Dravot with his masonic tag as a symbol of brotherhood.

After swearing mutual loyalty, alongside an oath to avoid women and drink, the two set out on a perilous journey beyond the Khyber Pass. As weeks roll by, they traverse through Afghanistan, overcoming bandits, harsh blizzards, and treacherous avalanches. They soon meet Billy Fish, a Gurkha soldier and the only survivor from an earlier British expedition, who bridges the cultural gap and aids their ascent to power. They begin by offering their military skills to the chief of a diligently plundered village. With their modernized troops, they launch raids against long-time foes. In one critical battle, an arrow strikes Dravot’s jacket, but he emerges unscathed, leading both sides to mistakenly view him as a divine entity.

As their victories accumulate, the newly formed army swells with those they have defeated. Before long, the high priest from the sacred city of Sikandergul summons them, orchestrating a dramatic reenactment to confirm Dravot’s supposed godhood—a test that reveals a tag around his neck, inscribed with sacred symbols believed to be left by Sikander (Alexander the Great), heralding him as both king and god to the locals.

Dravot’s new status is accompanied by the discovery of a royal treasury brimming with gold and jewels, now at his disposal. Despite Carnehan’s suggestion to flee with as much lucre as they could carry, Dravot becomes enamored with the local populace’s reverence and begins to relish his role as their adjudicator, dreaming of engaging with Queen Victoria as an equal. His affection deepens for the enchanting Roxane, prompting him to breach his vow to Carnehan by deciding to marry her and ensure a lineage for the natives.

When Roxane is brought to him, fear overtakes her, leading to a bite as she resists his kiss, revealing his mortality in a shocking moment. Consequently exposed, Dravot becomes the target of the enraged villagers. As confrontation ensues, Dravot is captured and forced onto a rope bridge, where he defiantly sings, > “The Son of God Goes Forth to War.” Tragically, the ropes are severed, and Dravot plummets to his demise. Carnehan, on the other hand, is imprisoned but survives the night crucified between two trees.

Eventually freed, albeit mentally and physically shattered, he returns to India, now a begging vagabond. As he concludes his harrowing tale, he leaves Kipling’s office, leaving behind a chilling final token: a bundle containing Dravot’s skull, adorned with a golden crown.