Freedom at Midnight S02

In the third episode of Freedom At Midnight’s second season, Abhishek Banerjee turns up as an unnamed Hindu rioter. Towards the end, he confronts Gandhi (Chirag Vohra), who’s fasting in yet another attempt to end the terrible sectarian violence in Calcutta. He berates the frail old man, yelling at him to eat, confessing to murder, finally breaking down. Gandhi, barely able to speak, advises him to wipe his heart of hatred.

लेखक विलियम एल शीरर की किताब ‘राइज ऐंड फॉल ऑफ थर्ड राईच’ की शुरुआती लाइन है, ‘दोज हू फॉरगेट हिस्ट्री आर कंडेम्ड टू रिपीट इट’ यानी जो अपना इतिहास भूल जाते हैं, वे उसे दोबारा दोहराते हैं। इसलिए, फिल्मकार निखिल आडवाणी अपनी सीरीज ‘फ्रीडम एट मिडनाइट’ के जरिए 1947 के उस ऐतिहासिक लेकिन विवादित पन्ने को पलटते हैं, जब देश को आजादी की कीमत बंटवारे के अब तक रिसने वाले जख्मों से चुकानी पड़ी थी। लैरी कॉलिन्स और डोमिनिक लैपियर की इसी नाम से लिखी चर्चित किताब पर आधारित इस सीरीज का दूसरा सीजन आ चुका है, जिसमें निखिल हिंदुस्तान और पाकिस्तान के स्वतंत्र अस्तित्व में आने के दौरान हुई हिंसा और उसके बाद के राजनीतिक-सामाजिक हालातों, चुनौतियों को बहुत ही गहराई और संवेदनशील ढंग से पर्दे पर उतारा है।

History lovers often crave the human drama behind epochal events. They pine for the backroom intrigue, the clash of egos, the creases in the starched characters that decorate our history books, not to forget the impact of their moral stand on the man on the street. These days, ancient and medieval history offers plenty of elbow room to play with the past, but when it comes to modern Indian history, filmmakers tend to draw back, as the wounds are still fresh and memories of Partition linger.

After premiering in November 2024 on SonyLIV, Freedom at Midnight has returned to pick up the story after independence was announced for India and Pakistan by the British Raj. The historical drama, created by Nikkhil Advani, is more thoughtful and poignant in this second season as the emotional impact of the Partition hits you deep. Backed by a strong cast and excellent writing, Freedom at Midnight takes viewers right in to the heart of creating the two neighbouring nations and the toll it created for the citizens, then and now.

Clueless Sir Cyril Radcliffe calmly cut his steak on the flight out of India, leaving behind a nation he’d just carved into two. Louis Mounbatten (Luke McGibney) became India’s first Governor-General, content that the Partition had happened without spilling a drop of British blood. But what about Indian blood, his wife countered. Jinnah (Arif Zakaria) crowned himself Qaed-e-Azam, tore himself from beloved Bombay to settle down in Karachi, hid his illness which, if made public, may not have led to a new Muslim country, and ego-butted Mountbatten as his equal in rank. With sister Fatima (Ira Dubey) as his ally all the way.

When Season One of ‘Freedom At Midnight’ — an adaptation of Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre’s book of the same name — dropped, a few naysayers had some issues with it. To counter the censure, mostly quibbles, Nikkhil Advani, the creator-director of the magnum opus on India’s freedom struggle, had declared: wait for the second part. Any misgivings about the portrayal of Jawaharlal Nehru, Mahatma Gandhi or even Muhammad Ali Jinnah vanish like a puff of smoke. If Season One was a precursor to India’s Independence, Season Two takes you to that historic moment when India breathed free, as well as to the cataclysmic times when the horrors of Partition engulfed Punjab and Bengal. In these harrowing episodes, when humanity acquired a monstrous hue, the immortal lines of Amrita Pritam — “Ajj akhan Waris Shah nu” — echo resoundingly.

One of my favourite scenes in this second season– and there are several– has Jawaharlal Nehru sitting by himself in a large high-ceilinged room. Sardar Patel has just left, with yet another contentious issue left hanging in the air. For a series which leans so heavily into conversation and constant cross-talk, a man alone with his thoughts has weight, giving us time to understand from the comfort and privilege of hindsight, just how hard won our freedom was, which came to us at that famous stroke of the midnight hour.