What Is the Story About?
Netflix’s latest Indian Original series ‘The Railway Men’ is set in the backdrop of the devastating 1984 Bhopal Gas Tragedy in the Union Carbide factory located in the centre of the city. As people around them drop dead like flies, a handful of brave men show unprecedented courage to steer as many victims to safety as they can. Among the bravehearts are Bhopal Junction Station Master Iftekaar Siddiqui (Kay Kay Menon), motorman Imad Khan (Babil Khan), notorious thief Express Bandit aka Baldev Yadav (Divyenndu) and GM of Central Railways, Rati Pandey (R. Madhavan).
The Railway Men is written by Aayush Gupta, directed by Shiv Rawail, and produced by YRF Entertainment.
Performances?
The Railway Men is marked by excellent performances across the board. Kay Kay Menon and Babil Khan are standouts in their leading roles. Divyenndu brings much-needed flourish and lightheartedness to the decidedly sombre story. He’s superb as well. R. Madhavan lends a larger-than-life bravado to the proceedings.
The supporting cast in the series is equally impressive. Juhi Chawla is a delight to watch any time. Mandira Bedi and Raghubir Yadav are good in their cameos. Shrikant Verma, Sunny Hinduja, Dibyendu Bhattacharya, among others, lend commendable support.
Analysis
First out, let us tell you that Netflix’s The Railway Men is no Chernobyl by any standard. In fact, it is as far removed from that seminal, multiple awards-winning HBO limited series on the Chernobyl nuclear disaster as chalk from cheese. The Railway Men is a trope-laden, long-drawn and essentially flawed retelling of the worst industrial disaster in the world ever.
But in spite of all its glaring imperfections, The Railway Men is a compelling and gripping drama that sucks you in despite yourself. The series also acquaints today’s generation with the devastating disaster that has largely been relegated to obscurity in a fast-changing world. As sensational and shocking as that disaster was, not many in today’s time and age know much about it. It’s as if the memory of that catastrophe and the thousands of lives lost have been relegated to the ashes in the history of the country.
The Railway Men is thus a powerful and much-needed vehicle to bring the largely forgotten disaster back into public glare. A disaster that is affecting even now, though close to forty years have passed since it happened, and it’s been long closed, done and dusted. Only those with a particularly cynical or jaundiced eye will remain unmoved by the events unfolding on screen in the well-intentioned series.
The Railway Men excellently depicts the unsung acts of heroism undertaken by seemingly ordinary people who summoned extraordinary courage in the extraordinary situation of 40 tons of highly toxic Methane Isocynate (MIC) gas turning an overpopulated Indian city into a veritable gas chamber.It also shines a harsh spotlight on the systemic failures at every level — the shocking laxity of a greedy corporate only interested in the bottom line, safety and protocol be damned; an indifferent government that allowed the setting up of a hazardous factory in the centre of a teeming, overpopulated city; government officials who only want a scapegoat to dump responsibility of the unmitigated disaster; and so much more.
What works in The Railway Men is that the writers adopt a “show, don’t tell” style of storytelling, giving due respect to the intelligence of the audience to grasp the nuances of the complex story. What doesn’t work in the series are the unnecessary subplots — the estranged couple; miscreants hunting down Sikhs in the aftermath of Indira Gandhi’s killing (the Bhopal Gas Tragedy took place on the intervening night of 2nd and 3rd December, barely a month after Indira’s assassination); a dysfunctional father-son relationship; and a few others.
The stellar cast and their accomplished performances are a major advantage for the series. The honest, earnest storytelling does its job too. The juxtaposition of real-life images with reel ones lends gravitas to the narrative. A few sequences are a tad irritating, and could have been shot better.
All said and done, The Railway Men is a series worth watching, if only to learn from history the perils of putting profit before prudence in the public domain. Will the powers that be ever learn? Doesn’t look like it — not now, not ever.
Music and Other Departments?
Sam Slater’s background score does its work of providing a sense of urgency to the proceedings. Cinematographer Rubais structures each frame with careful attention to detail. Yasha Jaidev Ramchandani’s editing is efficient. Rajat Poddar’s production design is superb.
Highlights?
The performances of the lead cast
The production values and production design
Drawbacks?
Unnecessary subplots
Laden with tropes
Long-drawn storytelling
Did I Enjoy It?
Yes, despite its flaws
Will You Recommend It?
Yes, again, despite its flaws
The Railway Men Series Review by Binged Bureau