Nikkhil Advani on tackling partition in Freedom at Midnight: 'Not colouring the events'

Nikkhil Advani is currently gearing up for the release of his upcoming series, Freedom at Midnight. Given that he adapted the series from Dominique Lapierre and Larry Collins's book, the filmmaker has been exploring new perspectives on the partition and India's independence.

Nikkhil Advani's take on the original book

In an interview with Mid Day, Advani expressed his opinion that the book is not exceptional. His attraction is that it downplays its seriousness. The text discusses the authors' points of view and offers Lord Mountbatten's viewpoint.

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The SonyLIV series, which stars Sidhant Gupta, Chirag Vohra, and Rajendra Chawla, details the final year leading up to India's independence in 1947. The crew had to be careful while adapting Lapierre and Collins' book, according to Advani, even if it served as the blueprint.

Approach to handling sensitive historical events

When they convened to determine the direction of this show, they deliberated over the reactions and potential controversies from various areas. Since the occurrences are undeniable, they decided to follow them. No one can deny that they had a part in those events. Without a doubt, everyone believed that the partition would put a stop to the fighting. Only Mahatma Gandhi predicted it would get worse, according to Advani.

It is not straightforward to recount the history of India. A number of films have seen reaction and boycott demands in the past, including Padmaavat (2018) and Samrat Prithviraj (2022).

Nikkhil Advani’s vision for historical accuracy in the series 

Advani denied feeling nervous about the historical play's concept, citing the book's 1975 publication as the underlying material. His only choice is to either situate himself in the same room as the leaders or right in the middle of the nationwide rioting. The filmmaker uncolours what is happening. There are no scenes depicting the riots in colour. Since the riots were primarily about chaos, terror, and insanity, he did not include any representation of green Muslims or saffron Hindus in the film. Advani's role as a filmmaker is to transport viewers to that moment; from there, one may judge for themselves if the decision-makers were correct.

Following Vedaa as his first feature film directing effort of the year, Freedom at Midnight follows suit. The film's dismal box office performance devastated the filmmaker. The ineffectiveness of Vedaa was quite painful for the filmmaker. He added that, on the other hand, it would have been far more painful if the audience for the co-released film Stree 2 had panned it despite its strong performance; it was an excellent film.

Release details

Meanwhile, SonyLIV (OTTplay Premium) will premiere Freedom at Midnight beginning November 15, 2024. 

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