Heróis dos Trilhos

I am half way through this series, and am thoroughly enjoying it. The actors are all great and well cast, the story is compelling and it has been filmed well. Background music sets the right tone, and as you can imagine, the story builds in tension and is, deeply sad. I cannot imagine the horror of this type of experience. I really wnjoy series and films with well crafted characters, and with each unique character in this series you quickly get a sense of their temperament and personalities, which allows us to empathise fully with the characters, even if for some we would rather not. Netflix doesn't always get it right, but this is a series they invested in well, and it shows. A solid 9/10.

The story of a few heroes who rise to save several lives, on the night of a massive disaster. The Railway Men is hard-hitting, powerful, and undoubtedly one of the best series of this year. It has some stellar performances, an engaging screenplay, and a perfect editing. The dialogues, cinematography, and production design are strengths of the series too.

Debutant director Shiv Rawail did a great job and delivered a gripping tale of the heroism of Indian Railway employees. The show picks up the pace right from the first episode. Although there were a few subplots and backstories that seemed unnecessary but it has no dull moments and stays focused on the topic till its last episode. The makers have used real-life footage fittingly to make the viewers feel the pain of that fateful night.

Kay Kay Menon has delivered an outstanding performance and honestly, he deserves an award for playing this role. Divyenndu and R. Madhavan have played their part flawlessly. After giving a decent performance in Qala and Friday Night Plan, Babil Khan got a well-written role and he has given an impressive performance. Juhi Chawla, Sunny Hinduja, and Dibyendu Bhattacharya make an impact with their limited screen time. Other supporting actors excel in their respective parts.

The Railway Men Miniseries Rating: Direction 4/5 Acting 4.5/5 Dialogues 3.5/5 Story 4/5 Screenplay 4/5.

Railway Men: A Riveting Chronicle of Heroism Amidst the Bhopal Tragedy and its Lingering Impact. The series stands out with stellar performances from KK Menon, Babil, Munna Bhaiya, and R Madhavan, who bring the narrative to life. The reality of 15-20k lives lost due to a gas leak leaves a profound impact, urging viewers to delve into the unfolding drama.

The storyline takes a poignant turn as it unravels the valiant efforts of railway men, preventing the ominous transformation of Bhopal station into a graveyard. The collaborative assistance from neighboring railway stations adds a layer of community resilience in the face of adversity.

However, the series doesn't shy away from exposing the callousness of Union Carbide. Their failure to offer timely help, coupled with attempts to conceal the extent of the disaster, paints a grim picture of corporate negligence. The unfathomable repercussions of their actions continue to haunt Bhopal, with children grappling with enduring health issues even today.

The narrative takes a somber turn as it explores the aftermath, shedding light on the fact that the CEO of Union Carbide remained unpunished until death. This stark reality serves as a chilling reminder of the systemic failures that allowed such tragedies to go unanswered.

Furthermore, the series peels back the layers of the chemical reaction that led to the disaster. The lethal combination of MIC (methyl isocyanate) and H2O is explored, illustrating how a seemingly simple chemical reaction can have catastrophic consequences, costing lives and leaving a lasting imprint on a community.

This series is about the Bhopal gas tragedy in 1984 and how the unsung heros ,the railway officials helped the people to overcome the situations..An YRF entertainment series with leas actors KK Menon,Divyendu,Babil khan and Madhavan. The actors have done tremendous job and crossed their own bench mark. Babil khan is someone who can make you feel the smell of MIC by the expression of his eyes. He was wearing a cloth mask and we could see only his eyes but he is so talented that he expressed everything through his eyes. I think this is one of the best series of 2023 and far better than any hit bollywood movie. Absolutely a superb and excellent series. A must watch series from Netflix.

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.