General · EdgepediaOctober 3, 20265 min read

The Waking of a Nation

The Waking of a Nation is a 2025 Indian Hindi-language historical drama streaming series created and directed by Ram Madhvani for Sony LIV. In six episodes, it explores the events surrounding the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre through the eyes of Kantilal Sahni, a fictitious Indian member of the Hunter Commission, the British-appointed body established in October 1919 to investigate the massacre.¹^•²

Key fact	Detail
Format	Six-episode Hindi-language historical thriller, rated U/A 13+¹
Release	March 7, 2025 on Sony LIV (India Today lists March 6)³^•⁴
Creator/director	Ram Madhvani; writers Madhvani, Shantanu Srivastava, and Shatrujeet Nath¹^•⁵
Lead cast	Taaruk Raina (Kantilal Sahni), Nikita Dutta (Poonam Aulakh), Sahil Mehta (Ali Allahbaksh Zaidi), Bhawsheel Singh Sahni (Hari Singh Aulakh)⁶
Historical figures	Paul McEwan as Lieutenant Governor Michael O'Dwyer; Alex Reece as General Reginald Dyer⁶
Central thesis	The massacre of April 13, 1919 is presented as a premeditated conspiracy rather than a spontaneous act⁵
Historical basis	No historical record of a lawyer named Kantilal Sahni exists; the commission's real Indian members issued a dissenting Minority Report⁷

Spoilers

Premise and structure

The series is set between April and December 1919. Its protagonist, Kantilal Sahni (Taaruk Raina), is a London-returned lawyer who initially holds a favorable view of colonial rule and works for the British administration, where he has a hand in drafting the Rowlatt Act, the law allowing arrest and detention without trial.⁸^•⁵ After protests against the Act sweep Amritsar and General Reginald Dyer orders firing on an unarmed gathering at Jallianwala Bagh, killing hundreds, Kantilal is appointed to the Hunter Commission inquiry. In December 1919 he decides to lay the truth before the commission despite a threat to his life, attempting to prove that the massacre was planned and that Lieutenant Governor Michael O'Dwyer, not Dyer, was its mastermind.⁹^•⁵

The narrative alternates between the December 1919 courtroom hearings and flashbacks to the weeks before and after the massacre. Around Kantilal stand three childhood friends: the journalist Ali Allahbaksh (Sahil Mehta), Hari Singh Aulakh (Bhawsheel Singh Sahni), and Hari's wife Poonam (Nikita Dutta), who manages accounts for a newspaper and joins the freedom struggle.¹⁰^•⁸ Madhvani has said the story of four friends is the fictional element of the show, chosen to show young people, some barely 25 or 28 years old and including soldiers just returned from World War I, caught up in the circumstances of their time; the characters of Dyer and O'Dwyer are based on real people.¹¹

Production and approach

Madhvani, previously known for the films Neerja (2016) and Dhamaka and the series Aarya, described the series as historical fiction and said he wanted to avoid melodrama and jingoism, instead building a case that the massacre was a pre-planned conspiracy while evoking themes of racism and prejudice.²^•¹² He has also described the show as a personal answer to racism he experienced, saying it is about what happened before and after the massacre as much as the massacre itself.¹³

Visual method. Rather than heavy visual effects, the production shot mostly on real locations, juxtaposing archival black-and-white footage with newly shot sequences styled to match it.⁸ For the riot scene in the second episode, depicting the Civil Lines riots that broke out about a week before the massacre, Madhvani used what he calls the "system 360", shooting with multiple cameras over a long duration while actors Taaruk Raina and Sahil Mehta performed in the middle of a large crowd, some of whose members did not know they were watching actors.¹²^•⁵ The actors were encouraged to improvise, and Madhvani deliberately avoided formal "pure Hindi" dialogue so the period would not feel distant.¹² Research drew on archival material from London, Amritsar, and Mumbai.¹¹

Historical basis and liberties

The series is a fictionalized account. While the Hunter Commission did include Indian members, among them Sir Chimanlal Harilal Setalvad, Pandit Jagat Narayan, and Sardar Sahibzada Sultan Ahmad Khan, there is no historical record of a lawyer named Kantilal Sahni; in reality, the Indian members dissatisfied with the commission's findings issued their own Minority Report condemning the British for the massacre.⁷ The show's framing, in which O'Dwyer is revealed as the architect and Dyer as the instrument, is presented as the makers' interpretation rather than established history, and at least one reviewer argued that the conspiracy framing goes beyond what the record supports.⁵^•¹⁴

Reception

Critical response was largely unfavorable. NDTV gave the series two stars, calling it a reverent but uneven treatment that avoids dwelling on the bloodshed but drags in lengthy courtroom deliberations and overused flashbacks.¹⁰ Filmfare rated it 2.5 out of 5, criticizing sluggish pacing and theatrical dialogue while praising Paul McEwan's performance as O'Dwyer.⁷ OTTplay, also at 2.5, found the series dull and heavy-handed despite Raina's sincere performance.¹⁵ The Cinema Express review credited the show with making thoughtful points about colonialism but found the writing and editing inconsistent, and noted that Madhvani deliberately avoids the visceral depiction of the massacre seen in Rang De Basanti (2006) and Sardar Udham (2021), keeping the camera on Dyer and his soldiers instead of the victims.⁸ India Today, while finding the execution short of the story's emotional weight, praised the half-frame compositions, black-and-white re-enactments, and end credits listing every country that gained independence from British colonialism.⁴

References

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026