Nikkhil Advani’s Freedom At Midnight, which retells India’s independence and partition story, has received polarising reactions and it doesn’t come as a surprise to the filmmaker.

“When you are making something like Freedom At Midnight, there will be opposing points of view,” Advani tells us, adding, “I’m sure there are experts who know more about the partition and days leading to independence. And they will have some point of opinion”.

He asserts, “What we have tried to do is just stick to the events that took place between August 16, 1946, to January 30, 1948, which are indisputable. These events took place in history. We have just followed events and tried to take the audience into those rooms.”

Mention director Vivek Agnihotri’s tweet that criticises the filmmaker for allegedly not depicting the history with full honesty, he replies, “He has not seen the show, the trailer. He has not seen anything (about the show). He has just read an article from a magazine and shared the tweet.”

Advani further states that he has done his best to give a balanced narrative, stressing that he was only focused on capturing the harrowing pain of the tragic chapter of Indian history and not on taking any sides. “There’s only one side here. And it is that the partition was horrible and it should never have happened. People were torn apart, and friends were torn apart. There is no other side,” he stresses.

Sharing his own experience, he reveals, “My grandparents were part of that (partition). I’m a second-generation refugee. Although I was born in 1971, my grandparents spoke about the times. I have heard some of the saddest and most tragic stories. It is indisputable that partition was a very tragic consequence.”

“The show has a definite end,” Advani concludes by saying that he doesn’t plan to turn it into a franchise.