Felt lot of respect for Nehru during my research for 'Freedom at Midnight': Sidhant Gupta

Mumbai: Sidhant Gupta, who plays Jawaharlal Nehru in ‘Freedom at Midnight’, was initially clueless about the approach he would take to essay the iconic real-life personality on screen until he read the third episode of the web series.

The seven-episode show, streaming on ‘Sony LIV’, is the actor’s first project since his breakout 2023 series ‘Jubilee’. ‘Freedom at Midnight’, based on the celebrated book of the same name by Dominique Lapierre and Larry Collins, is directed by Nikkhil Advani.

“I’m so obsessive about my characters. But I didn’t know where I was, how I was going to go or how I was going to find this person. I felt so much respect and admiration for him (Nehru) when I researched him. When ‘Freedom at Midnight’ came along, I read it. I remember that I was reading the third episode, all doors were closed and there was no going out of this world. That’s when I knew that this felt right. I thought I was feeling the right emotions and then I chose this one,” Gupta told the top news agency.

The actor received many offers after the success of ‘Jubilee’ but didn’t sign on a project until he found something that stayed with him, much like the ‘Prime Video’ period drama directed by Vikramaditya Motwane.

“I kept looking for something like that, that I read something and it stays inside and it doesn’t leave me. You want to strive, face the challenge and be that character. I was longing for that feeling,” said Gupta, who won the hearts of audiences and critics with his performance as the aspiring filmmaker Jay Khanna in ‘Jubilee’.

‘Freedom at Midnight’ also stars Rajendra Chawla and Chirag Vohra in which they essay the roles of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Mahatma Gandhi, respectively. It also stars Arif Zakaria as Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Ira Dubey as Fatima Jinnah, Malishka Mendonsa as Sarojini Naidu, Rajesh Kumar as Liaquat Ali Khan and KC Shankar as VP Menon.