Freedom At Midnight director Nikkhil Advani on his history of tackling contentious subjects: 'I have the habit of poking the bed'

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SonyLIV's show 'Freedom At Midnight' explores Mahatma Gandhi's appeal to Sardar Patel regarding Muhammad Ali Jinnah, focusing on India's 1947 independence and Partition. It is produced by Emmay Entertainment and is led by Monisha Advani and Madhu Bhojwani, in partnership with StudioNext. The show stars Sidhant Gupta, Chirag Vohra, and Rajendra Chawla. Recently, in an interview, filmmaker Advani talked about his history of tackling controversies and said that he has the habit of 'poking the bed.'

Nikkhil Advani on Freedom At Midnight

In a conversation with SCREEN, Nikkhil Advani talked about his history of tacklin contentious subjects and accepted that they sometimes cause controversy. He said, “I made a film called Patiala House in 2010 and people still felt that there was a bit of controversy, I made D Day and had security for three years, so yes, I have the habit of poking the bed.” He also revealed how his wife reacted to the first poster of D Day saying, “‘Do you want us to get killed? What is wrong with you? Why do you do this?’”

Nikkhil further talked about his show Freedom At Midnight and said, “There is conflict, dilemma, scale of emotions and visuals… Given that this book offers so much, if somebody else was making Freedom at Midnight, then I’d be very upset.”

Meanwhile, the historical web series–Freedom at Midnight started streaming from November 15, 2024. The historical show is inspired by the book Freedom At Midnight, written by Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre. The show showcases a crucial historical juncture where Mahatma Gandhi appeals to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel to extend an olive branch to Muhammad Ali Jinnah in a desperate attempt to stop the 1947 Partition of India and stay united. It is directed by Nikkhil Advani and is written by Abhinandan Gupta, Adwitiya Kareng Das, Gundeep Kaur, Divya Nidhi Sharma, Revanta Sarabhai, and Ethan Taylor.

The political drama is headlined by Sidhant Gupta as Jawaharlal Nehru, Chirag Vohra as Mahatma Gandhi, and Rajendra Chawla as Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. The show also stars Arif Zakaria, Ira Dubey, Malishka Mendonsa, Rajesh Kumar, and others.