Optomen preps colourised partition doc for C4

Channel 4 has ordered a two-part documentary from Optomen detailing events surrounding the partition of India in the mid-20^th century.

India 1947: Partition in Colour is a 2 x 60-minute series that sets out the personal rivalries of three key players in the seismic event: Jawaharlal Nehru, Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Lord Mountbatten.

The doc will set out the six years prior to the partition, when the UK government was bankrupt after World War II and prime minister Clement Atlee enacted plans to give India its independence.

It also documents the rumoured affair between Nehru and Mountbatten’s wife Edwina, as well as the growing antagonism during negotiations as Mountbatten attempted to wrap up a century of British rule in ten weeks rather than the intended year.

Partition in Colour will feature colourised archive footage for the first time, as well as private documents, including the unpublished memoir of Christopher Beaumont, who was private secretary to Cyril Radcliffe, the man tasked with creating the border between India and Pakistan.

Historians including Shruti Kapila, professor of Indian History at Cambridge University, Adeel Hussain, historian at Leiden University and Andrew Lownie, author of The Mountbattens: Their Lives and Loves will contribute alongside Lakshman Menon, grandson of Mountbatten’s chief aide V. P. Menon, whose plan for the two countries Mountbatten stole and passed off as his own.

Partition in Colour was commissioned by Shaminder Hahal, head of specialist factual. It is exec produced by Optomen’s Nick Hornby, with Laura Nash series producing, Alice Fraser producing and Varsha Chauhan serving as line producer.

“With the help of historians and relatives of some key players, the films examine the decisions taken by the main protagonists and the terrible events that followed. As the contributors grippingly convey, it’s history that shudders with resonance for today,” said Nahal.

Hornby added: “Our hope is to bring the story of partition to life for a new generation and shed new light on the how the personalities involved helped shape one of the most shocking chapters in the history of the British Empire.”

The historical doc marks something of a departure for Optomen, which is responsible for Great British Menu, Snackmasters and an untitled C4 doc series about the Kardashians.