Set against the backdrop of the Bhopal gas tragedy, “The Railway Men Movie Review” is a story inspired by a true incident. This first series of Yash Raj banner has been directed by Shiv Rawail. KK Menon, R Madhavan, Babil Khan, Divyendu are in lead roles. The series highlights the unseen aspect of this phenomenon. Bhopal gas tragedy occurred in 1984.
Yash Raj Films has opened its account in the OTT space with a four-episode mini-series The Railway Men. The series is streamed on Netflix on Saturday.
The year 1984 is remembered in Indian history for two shocking events – the heinous assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on 31 October and the subsequent riots against Sikhs. Gas tragedy occurred in Bhopal on 3 December. Thousands of innocent lives were lost in both the incidents.
The Railway Men is a series primarily based on the background of the Bhopal gas leak incident, which also has a sprinkle of events after the assassination of Indira Gandhi. This is the story of unsung heroes. It shows their passion, courage, humanity and proves that superheroes do not come just wearing uniforms or costumes.
Every person who saves a life by risking his life is a superhero. This series also comments on the negative aspects of human nature through the characters. The Railway Men is a series adorned with tight writing and excellent acting, which offers hope along with emotional ups and downs.
The loss-making American chemical company Union Carbide is continuously ignoring safety issues. Employees understand this, but the management silences them citing losses. On the night of December 2, 1984, methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas leaks. The gas starts spreading throughout the city and before people can understand anything, they start dying.
Iftekhar Siddiqui (KK Menon), the station master of Bhopal Junction, has the responsibility of saving the people, and also has to stop the trains coming from Itarsi towards Bhopal, so that the lives of the people coming in the train can be saved. The challenge increases due to poor communication system of the Railways.
GM Central Railways Rati Pandey (R Madhavan) arrives at Itarsi Junction for a surprise inspection. After knowing the situation in Bhopal, he takes command and tries to stop the trains going there, but fails. The huge challenge of saving the lives of Bhopal Junction and the passengers of this train is now in the hands of the railway personnel. In this, newly appointed loco pilot Imad Riaz (Babil Khan) and thief Baldev (Divyendu) disguised as a police constable help him.
Bhopal gas tragedy is considered to be one of the world’s worst industrial accidents. This shocking incident has been shown before through some films and documentaries, but for the first time it has been shown from the angle of the Railway Department. Ayush Gupta has written the series and Shiv Rawail is directing it.
The series begins on December 2, 1984, 16 hours before the gas leak incident. The stage of the story is set in the first half of the first episode. The beauty of the writing is that through dialogues, the negligence of Union Carbide and the outline of a possible accident have been explained.
For example, when KK’s character questions his son’s decision to take a job in Union Carbide, it becomes clear what perception the common man has about the company. The series also leaves the question that why the system could not understand what the common man understood. However, on December 2, the gas leaks and dead bodies start appearing in the city.
The focus of the series is on railway personnel, hence Bhopal Junction remains the main center of incidents. Focus has not been kept on Union Carbide Factory and Bhopal city. Station master Siddiqui gets help from Imad Riaz and Baldev.
It is Imad’s first day on the job as a loco pilot in the Railways. He previously worked in Union Carbide and had seen one of his friends die in a gas leak. Since then, he has been helping local journalist Kumawat (Sunny Hinduja) to expose the negligence towards safety in the factory, who raises the danger in Union Carbide through his newspaper.
Vicious criminal Baldev also arrives at Bhopal Junction to commit a theft, but when piles of dead bodies appear at the station after a gas leak, he gets involved in helping. On one side, there is this character who, despite being a criminal, puts his life at risk to save life.
At the same time, they are white collar rioters, who want to kill innocent people by entering the train. This aspect of the riots after the assassination of Indira Gandhi has been woven into the incident of Bhopal gas tragedy, but this does not seem unnecessary.
In the opening scenes of the series, a line from Rajiv Gandhi’s speech is heard on the TV playing in Iftekhar Siddiqui’s house – ‘When a big tree falls, the ground shakes a little.’ This line says a lot. The use of real footage and clippings from the events of the series adds credibility, but the writers have tried not to make it seem like a documentary.
Talking about the acting of the actors, KK Menon and Babil Khan maintained the originality of the series through their characters. KK has once again impressed with his acting in the role of honest and disciplined station master Siddiqui.
A back story of this character is also revealed through dreams, when he could not save the life of a child in a train accident and this yearning inspires him to save lives in the Bhopal gas tragedy. Babil’s performance in the character of Imad, who lives in a slum ten steps away from Union Carbide, is captivating. Seeing him getting into this character shows his growth.
Divyendu’s performance in the role of Baldev Chor is interesting. In some situations, this character also provides humor by reducing the tension of the scenes. His dialogues are also like this. It tickles me to speak lines based on the titles of Amitabh Bachchan’s films. Among the rest of the cast, R Madhavan, Juhi Chawla, Raghubir Yadav and Mandira Bedi have done justice to their characters.
The production department has done a commendable job in creating the scenes of Union Carbide and Bhopal Junction, which helps in keeping the story close to reality. The Railway Man is one of the best babe series released this year, in which the writing is well supported by the acting and direction.
The mini-series of four episodes of approximately one hour each is a successful story of humanity healing the wound of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy.
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