The Railway Men poster
After 5 decades of big-screen entertainment, Yash Raj Films has forayed into the OTT space with the web series, titled The Railway Men. Directed by Shiv Rawail, the show stars Kay Kay Menon, Babil Khan, R Madhavan, Divyenndu and an ensemble. The series premiered on Netflix today. The Railway Men has opened to a majority of positive reviews. Here's knowing what the show is all about.
The Railway Men is a 4-episode miniseries produced by YRF and post their recent collaboration with Netflix, the show released on the OTT giant today. The series is set in the period of the biggest industrial disaster, the Bhopal Gas Tragedy. A chemical accident at the Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) pesticide plant in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, in 1984 changed the course of history. Lacs of people lost their lives due to exposure to the highly toxic gas, methyl isocyanate (MIC).
The series revolves around Bhopal Junction's station master Iftekaar (Kay Kay Menon), his newest recruit Imad (Babil Khan), who is a former Union Carbide worker, a train thief Baldev (Divyenndu), Railways employee Rati Prasad (R Madhavan), Railways Ministry bureaucrat Rajeshwari (Juhi Chawla), journalist Kumawat (Sunny Hinduja) and Union Carbide manager Kamruddin (Dibyendu Bhattacharya).
The Railway Men draws inspiration from a real incident that took place at Bhopal Railway station and how a bunch of people including, then deputy station superintendent (DSS) Ghulam Dastgir stopped Bhopal-bound trains at faraway stations and the early flagging of Mumbai-Gorakhpur Express to prevent loss of lives due to the gas leak.
According to reports, Kay Kay Menon's character is loosely based on Dastgir, who lost his life in 2003 owing to health complications arising out of the toxic gas he inhaled. There were several deaths reported at the railway station as well.
10 years ago, a biopic on the Bhopal Gas Tragedy was released. It was titled Bhopal: A Prayer for Rain. While The Railway Men is a narrower look at the tragedy, the biopic explored the events that led to the gas leakage and the tragedy. Reports claim that those who witnessed the tragedy and are still alive have been suffering from various health issues.
