Misplaced focus

The fictional series based on the Bhopal gas disaster falls miserably short in its attempt to be a riveting survival drama

- MIDHUN VIJAYAN

ONE OF the most recognised images of the Bhopal gas tragedy is the photograph of a dead baby covered in rubble. Clicked by Indian photojournalist Pablo Barathlemow, the photograph captures the world's worst industrial disaster that unfolded in the heart of India in 1984. The image, which won the World Press Photo of the Year award in 1985, still keeps appearing in news programmes and publications the world over around the disaster's anniversary-December 2-3-as a reminder of the cost of industrial negligence.

There are many untold stories around the tragedy that took place on that cold December night in Bhopal. A disaster many saw coming and did little to prevent; a disaster that choked an entire city and tested limits of human empathy and resilience.

The Railway Men-The Untold Story Of Bhopal 1984, a Netflix series directed by Shiv Rawail, explores the many dimensions of the tragedy through the eyes of unsung heroes. The show, which has all the ingredients to be a good survival thriller, is sadly a painfully slow soap that dwells on the many dramas of the characters than the industrial disaster.

The series starts by juxtaposing real visuals with filmed shots to set a "docufiction" tone and reiterates that "it is based on real events" even though the characters' stories at times move away from reality. The series sets the context of the disaster early on. The false alarm scene in the factory gives a picture of negligence, of untrained employees, and of the stereotypical white villain with caricature expressions.