Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], May 7 : A host of international artistes have joined Nikkhil Advani's web series 'Freedom At Midnight', production of which is going on in full swing.
Deadline reported that Cordelia Bugeja (EastEnders, Family Affairs), Richard Teverson (The Crown, Downton Abbey), Luke McGibney (Mystery Island, Containment), Andrew Cullum (The Crown, The Black Prince) and Alistair Findlay (Highlander, Lady Chatterley's Lover) have joined the series, which charts India's struggle for independence and subsequent partition.
McGibney and Bugeja will play the last Viceroy and Vicereine of India, Lord Louis Mountbatten and Lady Edwina Mountbatten, respectively. Finlay is Archibald Wavell, the Commander-in-Chief and Viceroy of India preceding Mountbatten. Cullum brings to life Clement Attlee, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951, while Teverson portrays Cyril Radcliffe, the chairman of the Boundary Commission for the Partition of India.
They join Sidhant Gupta (Jubilee), who stars as Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of independent India, Chirag Vohra (Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story) as Mahatma Gandhi and Rajendra Chawla (Looop Lapeta) as Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the first deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister of India.
Talking about casting, director Nikkhil Advani said, "One of the biggest regrets that we had during the making of Rocket Boys was not being able to cast the international actors from UK/USA. Covid and lockdown prevented us from doing that. When we started the casting of Freedom At Midnight both Sony LIV and us were determined to correct that. Lord Louis Mountbatten, his wife Lady Edwina Mountbatten play integral roles that determined the outcome of the partition of the sub-continent. Then of course there is Atlee, Wavel and Radcliffe. Men that changed the course of modern day India. We were determined to use iconic footage and pictures of some seminal moments. And so, we had to get the actors who not only physically resembled these historical figures but those who would challenge the super Indian actors we had cast."
Adapted from the renowned book by Dominique Lapierre and Larry Collins, Freedom at Midnight is produced by Emmay Entertainment (Monisha Advani and Madhu Bhojwani) in association with StudioNext and Sony LIV, Nikkhil Advani serves as the Showrunner and Director. The story is penned by Abhinandan Gupta, Adwitiya Kareng Das, Gundeep Kaur, Divya Nidhi Sharma, Revanta Sarabhai and Ethan Taylor.
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