Freedom at Midnight might be adapted from Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre’s very controversial non-fiction book (of the same name) that was published way back in 1975, but even the people who haven’t heard of it do know what it is about. I mean, India’s partition (and subsequent independence from the British rulers) has remained a hot topic of modern history, and people keep talking about it. Quite naturally, Sony Liv’s new series, which sheds light on the tumultuous political and religious climate of India around the years 1946–47, was bound to draw attention from the audience.

Released in the seventy-eighth year of our independence, the Nikhil Advani-created series tells the story of the Partition. Advani, who has had a fascinating career in Bollywood as a writer, director, and producer, directs all seven episodes of the series. Given how engrossed I found myself in it despite knowing what was going to happen,...