Title: Freedom at Midnight
Director: Nikkhil Advani
Cast: Sidhant Gupta, Chirag Vohra, Rajendra Chawla, Arif Zakaria, Ira Dubey
Where: Sony LIV
Rating: 2.5 stars
The historical drama web series, based on the book of the same name authored by Dominique Lapierre and Larry Collins, delves into the partition of India and Pakistan, focusing on the last year of the British Raj.
At the outset, the cast certainly impresses and make you look forward to the series- Nikkhil Advani as the director, Sidhant Gupta as Jawaharlal Nehru, Chirag Vohra as Mahatma Gandhi, Rajendra Chawla as Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Arif Zakaria as Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Ira Dubey as Fatima Jinnah. The various episodes delve into key moments that led to the partition, including failed talks, communal violence, the politics surrounding partition- but its strength lies primarily in showcasing certain private interactions between key figures that give us a deep dive into the psyche of not only these individuals who are responsible for the creation of India, but also the relationship they shared with each other, something which has been cheapened in the last few years thanks to Whatsapp misinformation. This was served as a precursor in the teaser's tagline, ‘The History You May Not Know, The History You Should Know’, highlighting the show’s aim to bring lesser-known yet critical historical events to the forefront.
Performances
It was definitely a pleasure to see Zakaria playing Jinnah, which he has portrayed effectively in the beginning, but in later episodes his dialogues become reduced to a collection of one liner quotable quotes. His look is definitely spot on, but in that department Ira Dubey takes the cake, as it seems that she really is that old, complete with her portrayal of Fatima, which flows seamlessly. Ofcourse, if you do start to believe she’s that old, a fleeting glance at her stylish and chic Instagram account will clarify things.
It was interesting to see comedian Anuvab Pal, who himself has a comedy set titled the Empire, based on the history of the British Empire in India. Other pleasant surprises were Rajesh Kumar aka Roshesh as Liaquat Ali Khan and Malishka Mendonsa aka RJ Malishka as Sarojini Naidu, while the actor playing Maulana Abul Kalam Azad looks exactly as we have seen him in our history books. I absolutely loved Siddhant in Jubilee, one of my favourite series, but as Nehru I didn't find him convincing.
Pivotal moments, lesser known conversations
The series gives us an insight into the indomitable will of Gandhi, his stubbornness and his guts when he risks his life going into Noakhali (Chittagong, now in Bangladesh) in October 1946 where riots had taken place, even though there was risk to his life there. But also how certain disastrous decisions could have been made by him, when Gandhi was ready to hand over the hukumat of India to Jinnah, or when the partition decision was getting delayed as Gandhi did not want it. However, repeated riots with people are being butchered and women being raped led Nehru to finally listen to Patel that ‘Ungli katnei sei agar haath bach jata hai’ then it should be done. Patel’s practicality as a politician is highlighted, along with the camaraderie between Nehru and Patel when they are lost in a gigantic building, trying to find their way out.
A hilarious moment is when Lord Mountbatten and Edwina Mountbatten are walking down the aisle at a party and Nehru is looking at Edwina. The camera pans to Patel looking at Nehru, saying, ‘Jawahar mujhei pata hai aap kya soch rahei ho.’ Everyone probably expects him to talk about Nehru eyeing Edwina, but he actually says, ‘Bapu Noakhali mei aur hum yaha party mei.’
A particular scene where journalists are sitting at a tea stall and listening to the pre-announcements of the partition on radio is telling of how technology has changed the way journalism used to operate back then, as there wasn't any social media formal announcements on Gandhi ji’s Twitter accounts, the information had to be taken from the source directly by those journalists, i.e, Gandhi ji's secretary as he was heading into the house to meet him.
Verdict
The major weak point of the series is that it seems staged, and comes at a time when we’ve seen a masterclass in the form of The Crown, which it certainly does not match up to at all. However, credit must be given where due- while tackling a heinous, disturbing reality of our lives like Partition, Advani does not stretch scenes which show disturbing acts such as rape and murder, which unfortunately too many movies and series continuously keep doing.
