The Railway Men – My Flash Review!

When you watch The Railway Men, what strikes you most are the highly superior production values and the making of the series. I haven’t seen one in recent times on Indian OTT platforms that has taken such painstaking efforts to recreate an Indian heartland town of the 80s. For people like me who belong to the Doordarshan generation – the sets, the props, the costumes, the sound design and the lighting all remind us of the journey we have crossed in the pre-liberalisation period in India. For the next-gen, it is an awareness course. Either way, it is a must-watch.

The Railway Men brings before our eyes what was the biggest man-made disaster in Independent India, when a deadly gas namely Methyl Iso Cyanide leaked into the air of Bhopal from the Union Carbide factory killing 1000’s of people and creating permanent disabilities for another 1000’s who survived. Even for those who lived in India during that period, the extent of the carnage was unknown as it happened in the pre–social media, pre-Internet and even pre-Television times. We all got sketchy details of the incident only from Newspapers through news articles and accompanying Black and white photographs. Even that was telling enough but not to the actual extent.

What this series does therefore and that too remarkably so, is to show us what happened in deadly detail and in the bargain feel for those who lost their lives, whose destinies were changed forever and those heroes who did their bit to save lives even in that tough situation – after four decades.  There may be many who would have played a part in Bhopal on that dark night and the following days to save people. But this series focusses on the staff of Railways in the stations of Bhopal and in around and hence the title – The Railway Men.

The disclaimer at the beginning says that it is “inspired by true events” but based on what happened for real.  The screenplay conceived in a non-linear format takes us back and forth on related incidents before and after the actual gas leak.  The screenplay weaves in several subplots to heighten the drama like a marriage that happens on that night, a Hindu-Sikh clash in the train (aftermath of Indira Gandhi’s assassination), a dacoit angle and so on. While some of these which are directly connected with the episode work, a few others like the Husband-wife relationship issue between a Railway officer and a Government secretary come as a distraction and don’t work at all.

Director Shiv Rawail does a near perfect reconstruction of the kind of communication that happened through analog devices during emergencies that prevailed in that era. There are more examples where the Director keeps the proceedings gripping through his making technique even in the portrayal of a sad event, like the falling dead of scores of people haplessly just by breathing air from the atmosphere. Apart from the brilliant camera work, the background score by Sam Slater has a huge role to play in this, I reckon. I mentioned about the Sound design earlier. For our generation, the sound of the moving train is ever etched in our memories with a nostalgic and poetic connection.  Not anymore. The final episode is an emotional roller coaster and one that leaves you completely numb just looking at one small part of the consequences of the tragedy.

The performance of the lead cast leaves a lasting impact on us long after the series is over. Kay Kay Menon is a Raakshas. In Acting, I mean. Notwithstanding the bad makeup, he comes up with such a real performance that you cannot help feeling for the character of the Station Master he plays. Madhavan who plays the role of a General Manager – Central Railway Zone sometimes comes across as flippant in a role not written so well, in my opinion. The other supporting cast like Babil Khan and Divyendu give a good account of themselves.

Considering the fact that the Bhopal Gas tragedy happened in December of 1984, just 2 months after the assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and the ensuing communal riots, 1984 was a tough year for India.  Looking back, I feel that for such a humungous human tragedy, the Bhopal disaster didn’t get the due attention and coverage in the media back then. It is only after many years we came to know of how Warren Anderson the then Chairman of Union Carbide got out of the clutches of the Indian law.  Compensation to victims dead and alive has been a sham.  The makers of The Railway Men deftly keep the politics out of the narrative and instead just focus on the human element.

The Railway Men capsulated in four episodes is captivating in telling the human side of the Bhopal disaster very well.  The series is produced by Yashraj Entertainment otherwise reputed for being the torchbearer of candy floss and of late spy thrillers in Bollywood.  In this OTT debut, they have chosen a subject that is far removed from their usual genres and have done a great job of backing the Director and team to the hilt going by the production quality.

The Railway Men is a Must Must Watch, in my opinion. Not for its entertainment value but for understanding the price one must put on human lives. It is indeed an “Untold Story”. This is streaming now on Netflix.