British actors Luke McGibney, Cordelia Bugeja join Nikkhil Advani’s Freedom at Midnight

British actors Like Luke McGibney, Cordelia Bugeja have joined Nikkhil Advani’s upcoming series Freedom at Midnight, the makers announced on Tuesday. McGibney and Bugeja will play the last Viceroy and Vicereine of India, Lord Louis Mountbatten and Lady Edwina Mountbatten, respectively.

Along with them, Andrew Cullum, Richard Teverson and Alistair Finlay have also joined the series and are set to play key historical figures who played a vital role in India’s independence. Finlay essays Archibald Wavell, the Commander-in-Chief and Viceroy of India preceding Mountbatten. Cullum plays the character of 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.

Speaking of the series, Danish Khan, Business Head of Sony LIV and StudioNext, said in a statement, “This series will tell the electrifying story of India’s Independence with depth and authenticity. Under the leadership of Nikkhil Advani and his remarkably skilled team, the transition from page to screen will be nothing short of extraordinary. We at Sony LIV, StudioNext and Emmay believe this story has huge relevance and will offer great understanding and insights to our audiences across the world about ‘what, why and how’ of the events that led to Partition and finally Indian Independence.”

Nikkhil shed more light on casting international actors in the series and said in a press release, "One of the biggest regrets that we had during the making of Rocket Boys was not being able to cast the international actors from the 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.”

He added, “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”.

Sharing his thoughts on playing Lord Louis Mountbatten, Luke McGibney said in his statement, “As Mountbatten, I step into the shoes of a pivotal figure in India’s history. Mountbatten’s role during the transfer of power and partition was both profound and controversial. It’s a fascinating challenge to tap into the complexities of a character who wielded immense influence during a critical period.”

Earlier, the first look from the series was shared by the makers introducing actors Chirag Vohra as MK Gandhi, Sidhant Gupta as Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Rajendra Chawla as Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.

Adapted from the 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 of the series and it is written by Abhinandan Gupta, Adwitiya Kareng Das, Gundeep Kaur, Divya Nidhi Sharma, Revanta Sarabhai, and Ethan Taylor.