'Freedom At Midnight': A Balanced, Insightful Take on India’s Partition Era

Adapted from one of my favourite books, Freedom At Midnight premiered on SonyLiv this week as a seven part web-series. The first season is an engaging account of the last lap of India's freedom struggle, where the partition of undivided India became a major political concern from Delhi to London.

Director Nikkhil Advani is successful in creating the aura and setting of the mid-'40s British India. Technically brilliant with A grade production values, Freedom At Midnight takes a neutral and unbiased stand regarding its political ideology. Good, that!!  It turns out to be an insightful affair as well when we get to understand why Jinnah left the Congress to form the Muslim League, how two draft plans of Partitioned India were drawn by Mountbatten's team and of course, the bonding between Edwina Mountbatten and Nehru.

The performances are a mixed bag. Arif Zakaria is truly outstanding as Jinnah. So is Rajendra Chawla as Sardar Patel. Ira Dubey as Fatima (Jinnah's dominating sister) leaves a mighty impression even in a small role. On the other hand, Sidhant Gupta as Nehru, is just about okey dokey. He looks a tad young and immature to play that iconic leader. Worse, Chirag Vohra as M.K. Gandhi is a bad casting decision and turns the Mahatma in to a mere caricature. Special mention for R.J. Malishka playing Sarojini Naidu. She's cool as always!!

Overall, Freedom At Midnight is a fine adaptation of its much celebrated namesake book. It doesn't match the high level of the written material but still, qualifies for binge watch on a Sunday. Go for it guys!!

Ratings on some key aspects* :
1. Acting : 3.5/5
2. Direction : 3.5/5
3. Music : 3.5/5
4. Story, Screenplay and Dialogue : 4/5
5. Cinematography : 4/5
6. Editing : 3.5/5
7. Costume Design : 3.5/5
8. Special Effects and VFX : NA
9. Action : NA
10. Production Quality : 4/5

#SNRating for #FreedomAtMidnight : 3 & 1/2 stars out of 5.

- Sumeet Nadkarni

* - The overall film rating is not a simple average of all ratings on key aspects but a weighted average of the ratings where some crucial aspects (like direction, acting, story and screenplay etc) are assigned more weightage than others.

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#SNRatings barometer:
1 star = Poor
1 & 1/2 star = Below average/ Avoidable
2 stars = Average
2 & 1/2 stars = Above average/ Risk it
3 stars = Good enough/ Endurable
3 & 1/2 stars = Definitely worth a watch
4 stars = Very good
5 stars = Masterpiece/ Outstanding.

2024 SNRatings.