Today's Edition
Kuumar Shyam (Abu Dhabi) - Saturday will mark 39 years to the day when the central Indian city of Bhopal became the scene of manmade disaster out of negligence when a Union Carbide company plant leaked poisonous gas that killed many and maimed many others.
Nearly four decades on, Netflix series “The Railway Men” has released as a dramatised version of a subplot that unfolded in the wake of the tragedy. The four-part series, from Yash Raj Films Entertainment, is one-hour long for each part, but is packed each with a good mix of reel and real incidents that forces you to revisit that fateful night in the late hours on December 2.
The legal battle to search for accountability did not yield much against the American owners and the series focuses on the rescue efforts, especially by railway officials and some cases of individual bravery. A standout performance on those lines come from young Babil Khan, the son of the late stalwart Irrfan Khan.
He matches shoulders with the professional heavyweights R Madhavan and Kay Kay Menon, as well as OTT stars such as Divyenndu Sharma, Dibyendu Bhattacharya and Mandira Bedi. Juhi Chawla makes a special appearance, but the former A-list actress is wasted though.
In real life, for a tragedy that caused such mayhem, the perpetrators got away without any repercussions. The set-up is similar to Ravi Kumar’s 2014 film “Bhopal: A Prayer For Rain”, but this show goes beyond the event itself and focuses on certain individuals, at times merging a few and introducing fictional ones around the Indian railway ecosystem.
Bhopal railway station was very close to the factory when the gas leak happened. The then station master died and Ghulam Dastgir, his deputy, got saved because he was indoors and escaped the initial burst of gas. After a full night of saving potentially thousands, he collapsed unconscious and woke up next morning just as his body was to be disposed off.
In the series, Menon enacts Dastgir’s role but as chief station master while his assistant dies after an apparent dereliction of duty. Dastgir’s family is suing the producers and could be the reason why the post-credits do not identify the station master, but confirm it was the assistant station master.
To clarify and differentiate this from being looked at as a documentary, there is an opening monologue, preach and boring, while showing the American owners getting away despite a journalist (late Rajkumar Keswani) highlighting that the chemical plant had become a powder keg waiting to explode.
But once the fact has been drummed by director Shiv Rawail that a “common man’s life has no value in a third world country like India”, the series picks up in thrilling fashion – just like how even a bullet train rolls out slowly out of the station.
Aayush Gupta’s screenplay invites us right into dread and fear which plays out like a horror flick. Those who have a lack of sense of direction are assisted with graphics in addition to the narrative. At times, Rawail adds real-life footage with reel shots that emphasise the grim reality. The gravity of certain moments is so intense that it just gets quite difficult to watch.
But that’s precisely makes it a must-watch. The period that the series depicts feels authentic, thanks to Rajat Poddar’s production design which stays truthful to history whilst always creating the right atmosphere on screen.
Cameraman Rubais’ visceral shots and Sam Slater’s palpitating music further heighten the tension. The show features a stacked cast, and the acting is first-rate. Madhavan plays a railway general manager, who actually used his inspection train to bring relief within hours of the incident, heading towards disaster, and he delivers a great speech scene.
At times, a sub plot on a Bhopal-bound train seems unnecessary, despite wonderful acting by Bedi as a Sikh mother, and train guard Raghubir Yadav. Yet, considering the drama and thrills adding up, the only grouse can be that the series could have got an elongated track.
