The Railway Men

Drama Historical Thriller

16+

Hindi

November 18, 2023

51–65 minutes

Season: 1

Episodes: 4

Status: released

Trailer, Teaser & Videos

Poster & Photos

Where to Watch The Railway Men Online (Stream)

Netflix

Original title	The Railway Men: The Untold Story of Bhopal 1984
Country	India
Language	Hindi
Genre	Historical drama Disaster Tragedy
Season	1
Episodes	4
Release date	18 November 2023
Running time	51–65 minutes
Age rating	16+
Starring	R. Madhavan Kay Kay Menon Divyenndu Babil Khan
Created by	Shiv Rawail
Directed by	Shiv Rawail
Written by	Aayush Gupta
Executive producers	Aditya Chopra Uday Chopra Yogendra Mogre Akshaye Widhani
Cinematography by	Rubais
Edited by	Yasha Jaidev Ramchandani
Music by	Sam Slater
Production Company	YRF Entertainment
Distributor	Netflix

The Railway Men Web Series Cast & Character:

R. Madhavan as Rati Pandey, the general manager of the Central Railway zone of the Indian railways
Kay Kay Menon as Iftekaar Siddiqui, the station master of the Bhopal Junction railway station
Divyenndu as Balwant Yadav, a dacoit
Babil Khan as Imad Riaz, an inexperienced loco pilot
Sunny Hinduja as Jagmohan Kumawat, a journalist
Juhi Chawla Mehta as Rajeshwari Janglay, a principled Railways Ministry bureaucrat
Dibyendu Bhattacharya as Kamruddin, a manager at Union Carbide
Philip Rosch as Madsen, the American head of the plant
Denzil Smith as railway minister
Raghubir Yadav as a train guard
Mandira Bedi as Rajbir Kaur, a Sikh woman
Connor Keene as Alex Braun, a German scientist
Sunita Rajwar as Vijaya, a cleaning woman
Manish Wadhwa as Mirza
Shrikant Verma as Ishwar Prasad
Nivedita Bhargava as Imad’s mother
Annapurna Soni as Shazia, Ansari’s widow
Bhumika Dube as Nafisa, Kamruddin’s wife
Thanu Khan as Markhand
Aditya Shukla as Ratlu
Priya Yadav as Sohini, Vijaya’s daughter
Rahul Tewari as Benedict
Mushtaq Khan as Railway Yard Man

Storyline:

The Railway Men is based on railway workers who saved many lives during the 1984 gas tragedy at the chemical company Union Carbide India Limited’s plant in Bhopal. The series is inspired by the efforts of station master Ghulam Dastagir and his team at the Bhopal Junction railway station on the night of the tragedy.

About The Railway Men Web Series:

The Railway Men: The Untold Story of Bhopal 1984 is a Hindi historical drama web miniseries about railway workers who saved many lives during the 1984 toxic gas leak at the chemical company Union Carbide India Limited’s plant in Bhopal. It is produced by YRF Entertainment (the streaming division of Yash Raj Films) and stars R. Madhavan, Kay Kay Menon, Divyenndu, and Babil Khan. Sunny Hinduja and Juhi Chawla Mehta play supporting roles.

The Railway Men marked the directorial debut of Shiv Rawail, who was an assistant director at Yash Raj Films. It also marked the first streaming fiction series of the company, under their subdivision YRF Entertainment.

The series began filming on 1 December 2021 and wrapped on 11 May 2022.

Two former employees of Union Carbide India Limited, convicted in the gas leak case, filed a plea to prevent the release of the series; the Bombay High Court rejected their case.

The series was released on Netflix on 18 November 2023.

The Railway Men Episodes

The Railway Men S1, Episode 1

Employees at the Union Carbide India Limited work under negligible safety protocols. Imad Riaz, a former employee, talks to a journalist, Kumawat, about the death of his friend at the plant due to toxic gas inhalation. He says that the management took no action and fired him instead for complaining. A manager at the plant, Kamruddin, also tries to give information to Kumawat about the lack of safety at the crumbling plant. Meanwhile, Iftekaar Siddiqui is an idealistic station master of the Bhopal Junction railway station. A dacoit named Balwant Yadav intent on looting the station safe-house introduces himself to Iftekaar as a cop in pursuit of the dacoit. On the night of 2 December 1984, due to malfunctioning instruments and untrained workers at the plant, a highly toxic gas Methyl isocyanate (MIC) leaks into the atmosphere, instantly killing many workers, including Kamruddin.

The Railway Men S1, Episode 2

As the gas starts spreading into the highly populated Bhopal city, hordes of people begin to collapse in the streets, many of whom die. At Bhopal Junction station, Iftekaar and Balwant are initially confused by the chaos. They soon realise that people who were indoors were seemingly unharmed. They try to gather the crowds into the station waiting room. Due to incomplete cable repair work, communication systems are down, and Iftekaar has no way to reach nearby stations and warn them. Imad, who had begun a new job as a loco pilot, becomes aware of the gas leak due to his past history. He goes to the station to warn Iftekaar. Meanwhile, at a nearby station, Rati Pandey, a general manager for the Indian Railways, becomes aware of the situation.

The Railway Men S1, Episode 3

Rati tries to persuade DG (Personnel) Rajeshwari Janglay to take action and send help to the people stranded in Bhopal. However, her pleas are neglected by her superiors. Rajeshwari entrusts Rati to disobey the orders and help them anyway. Rati inspires several railway workers to help him in the cause, and they set off towards Bhopal. At Bhopal Junction, Iftekaar, Imad, and Balwant find their own way to rescue people trapped at the station by putting them in a goods train. Meanwhile, Madsen, the American head of the plant, refuses to provide any help. A German scientist, who seemingly has an anti-dote to MIC is thwarted in his effort by both the Indian Government and Union Carbide.

The Railway Men S1, Episode 4

Unable to warn them, a train with 1000 passengers makes its way towards Bhopal Junction. The train is delayed due to anti-Sikh rioters. Meanwhile, Rati and his workers make their way towards the junction as well. Iftekaar and Imad find a way to avoid a collision, but Imad dies due to inhalation. After helping the people board the rescue train, Iftekaar too seemingly dies. Balwant retrieves his key to steal money from the vault. Rati helps the survivors with medical supplies, and it is revealed that Rajeshwari and he are married. Meanwhile, Kumawat, appalled at the disaster, begins documenting the event through photographs. On the next day, rescue trains carry many survivors away from the city. At a makeshift graveyard, thousands of bodies are seen to be buried and burnt. Iftekaar, like a few others who were pronounced dead, wakes up. Balwant has a change of heart, and returns the money. Many years later, Kumawat revisits Bhopal, and sees that long-term effects of the disaster are still being felt.

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