Freedom at Midnight (TV series)

Freedom at Midnight is a 2024 Indian Hindi-language historical drama web series streaming on Sony LIV, adapted from the book of the same name, authored by Dominique Lapierre and Larry Collins.^[1] Created and directed by Nikkhil Advani,^[2] the series delves into the 1947 partition of India.^[3][4][5][6]

Freedom at Midnight
Promotional poster
Genre	Historical drama
Created by	Nikkhil Advani
Based on	Freedom at Midnight by Dominique Lapierre and Larry Collins
Written by	Abhinandan Gupta Gundeep Kaur Adwitiya Kareng Das Divy Nidhi Sharma Revanta Sarabhai Ethan Taylor
Directed by	Nikkhil Advani
Starring	Sidhant Gupta Chirag Vohra Rajendra Chawla Luke McGibney Cordelia Bugeja Malishka Mendonsa Arif Zakaria Ira Dubey
Music by	Ashutosh Phatak
Country of origin	India
Original language	Hindi
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	7
Production
Producers	Monisha Advani Madhu Bhojwani
Cinematography	Malay Prakash
Editor	Shweta Venkat
Running time	37–48 minutes
Production companies	Studio Next Emmay Entertainment
Original release
Network	SonyLIV
Release	15 November 2024 (2024-11-15) – present

The first season was released on 15 November 2024, and a second season was announced later that month.^[7][8]

Cast and characters

• Sidhant Gupta as Jawaharlal Nehru
• Chirag Vohra as Mahatma Gandhi
• Rajendra Chawla as Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
• Luke McGibney as Lord Mountbatten
• Cordelia Bugeja as Edwina Mountbatten
• Malishka Mendonsa as Sarojini Naidu
• Arif Zakaria as Mohammad Ali Jinnah^[9]
• Pawan Chopra as Maulana Abul Kalam Azad
• Ira Dubey as Fatima Jinnah
• Rajesh Kumar as Liaquat Ali Khan
• K.C. Shankar as V.P. Menon
• Andrew Cullum as Clement Attlee
• Alistair Findlay as Archibald Wavell
• Ed Robinson as George Abell
• Richard Madison as Hastings Ismay
• Richard Teverson as Sir Cyril Radcliffe
• Ahalya Shetty as Indira Gandhi
• Guy Pinsent as King George VI
• Anuvab Pal as Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy
• Simon Feilder as Evan Meredith Jenkins

Episodes

Series	Episodes		Originally released
			First released	Last released
1	7		15 November 2024 (2024-11-15)	TBA

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date	Length (Minutes)
1	"Direct Action"	Nikkhil Advani	Abhinandan Gupta, Gundeep Kaur, Adwitiya Kareng Das, Divy Nidhi Sharma, Revanta Sarabhai, Ethan Taylor	15 November 2024 (2024-11-15)	41 Minutes
2	"Sole Spokesman"	Nikkhil Advani	Abhinandan Gupta, Gundeep Kaur, Adwitiya Kareng Das, Divy Nidhi Sharma, Revanta Sarabhai, Ethan Taylor	15 November 2024 (2024-11-15)	43 Minutes
3	"Satyagraha"	Nikkhil Advani	Abhinandan Gupta, Gundeep Kaur, Adwitiya Kareng Das, Divy Nidhi Sharma, Revanta Sarabhai, Ethan Taylor	15 November 2024 (2024-11-15)	48 Minutes
4	"Punjab"	Nikkhil Advani	Abhinandan Gupta, Gundeep Kaur, Adwitiya Kareng Das, Divy Nidhi Sharma, Revanta Sarabhai, Ethan Taylor	15 November 2024 (2024-11-15)	37 Minutes
5	"The Last Straw"	Nikkhil Advani	Abhinandan Gupta, Gundeep Kaur, Adwitiya Kareng Das, Divy Nidhi Sharma, Revanta Sarabhai, Ethan Taylor	15 November 2024 (2024-11-15)	46 Minutes
6	"Poorna Swaraj"	Nikkhil Advani	Abhinandan Gupta, Gundeep Kaur, Adwitiya Kareng Das, Divy Nidhi Sharma, Revanta Sarabhai, Ethan Taylor	15 November 2024 (2024-11-15)	46 Minutes
7	"Eclipse"	Nikkhil Advani	Abhinandan Gupta, Gundeep Kaur, Adwitiya Kareng Das, Divy Nidhi Sharma, Revanta Sarabhai, Ethan Taylor	15 November 2024 (2024-11-15)	43 Minutes

Release

The first teaser for Freedom at Midnight was released on 30 July 2024.^[10]

Reception

NDTV's Saibal Chatterjee gave the show 4 stars out of 5 and praised the acting, saying, "Freedom at Midnight isn't driven by A-list stars but by actors who painstakingly and confidently flesh out the towering historical figures".^[11] Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express rated it 2.5 stars and said that "...sprawling yet pacy, the Nikkhil Advani series brings to life the story of India and Pakistan, which came into existence at that stroke of the midnight hour immortalised in the haunting words of Nehru."^[12] Arushi Jain of India Today gave it 4 stars out of 5 and observed that "The Nikkhil Advani show has a light, easygoing way of telling the story, weaving together different threads that build up quietly. The dialogues and performances strike emotional chords effectively."^[13] Nandini Ramnath of Scroll.in wrote in her review that "Freedom at Midnight doesn't want to be a show that you curl up to watch on Independence Day, a flag by your side and happiness in your heart. Rather than pride about the struggle that led to the end of British rule in 1947."^[14] Devansh Sharma of Hindustan Times wrote that "Nikkhil Advani's period drama captures the road to India's Independence and Partition and the sprawling, layered show is India's answer to The Crown."^[15] Firstpost's Vinamra Mathur stated that "As much as the filmmaker should be lauded for stepping away from the world of big stars, the ensemble he has created for his show are both hit and miss".^[16]