We all have seen multiple documentaries and films based on Bhopal gas tragedy . These showed us only the main events of the tragedy and the aftermath. However, none covered the few acts of bravery on that tragic day that saved countless lives. The Railway Men captures one such totally unknown act of bravery at the Bhopal railway station that saved nearly 1000s of lives.
Many might assume the event shown in this series itself is a fiction but it's not. It's a true event based loosely on the act of bravery by stationmaster Ghulam Dastigar , but this true event has been presented in a more fictionalised way. His role is played by KK Menon, who is named as Iftiqaar Siddiqui. On the night of tragedy, he , assisted by few more people, made sure that the passengers at the railway station were safe and was also responsible for quickly flagging off the Gorakhpur express from Bhopal station, thus lessening the casualties (although there were many at the station).
The series is fast paced and doesn't dive into anything unnecessary (although there is something I will talk about later). It's engaging while also being pretty horrifying. The makers did a commendable job in recreating certain scenes as seen from old pictures like that of the UC plant, the dead bodies lying on the floor , the patients in the hospital etc. We get to witness acts of bravery from not one, but three people, Iftiqaar, Balwant and Imad who , despite being affected by the gas, give their heart and soul to save whoever could be at the station. Since it's a fictional representation, so i didn't bother to recheck facts because the base facts on which the series is built are , at the end of day, true.
The night of the tragedy is also captured well although I feel Bhopal: a prayer for rain did that even better in its 25 mins climax. Still, Railway Men is no far.
Performances are the key highlights of this series. KK Menon is the superstar of this series as he is the one who shoulders the responsibility to take care of the passengers while desperately calling for help from other stations and also making sure the incoming Gorakhpur express leaves asap to avoid passengers in it to get affected. Next is Babil Khan as Imad who does a terrific job as the selfless worker. His dialogues like "Kaam chor ke ayenge to ammi daantegi" really work well. Dibyendu Sharma as Express Bandit Balwant yadav does a good job but his character could have been written better. R. Madhavan doesn't have much to do tbh apart from arranging for relief supplies to reach Bhopal while breaking all orders given to him. His little speech to his colleagues before setting out was pretty good.
Sunny Hinduja has a key role to play as the reporter Kumnawat (maybe fictional Rajkumar keswani) and Dibyendu Bhattacharya is the hidden gem of this series, completely dominating the first episode.
There is just one song at the end and it's placed pretty well.
Negatives - the Hindu Sikh angle in the tale could have been avoided in my opinion. The express bandit angle too could have been avoided although it doesn't interfere much tbh. The Englishmen in the series needed better portrayal than the usual caricatures they are shown in every other film in Bollywood.
Overall, a series that deserves atleast a time watch opportunity. The efforts are genuinely visible in the series and we all need to know such acts of bravery by unsung heroes who were forgotten.
